Exeter confidently beat Bath just a few weeks ago at Sandy Park and they could have scored first in the semi-final if a pass to Cameron Ridl had not been deemed forward shortly after the kick-off.
Bath had a chance of their own but Santiago Carreras, in for the injured Finn Russell at fly-half, threw the ball straight to Ridl to intercept in their first real attack on the Exeter line.
Much like in the second half, a turning point came when Henry Slade was shown a yellow for thoughtlessly slapping the ball out of Bath scrum-half Ben Spencer’s hands. Bath capitalised from the restart as Beno Obano barrelled over from a few metres out.
While Harvey Skinner’s penalty put Exeter on the scoreboard, Thomas Du Toit added Bath’s second try on his final appearance at the Rec before leaving the club in the summer, powering over under the weight of three Exeter tacklers.
Slade returned and got Exeter over the line, but this time the try was denied for Paul Brown-Bampoe’s foot hitting touch seconds before.
But there was no denying Christ Tshiunza, who produced a moment of individual brilliance as the forward sidestepped Tom de Glanville, raced into space, and dived over to make it 14-10.
Under Johann van Graan, Bath have grown accustomed to big occasions such as this and they reestablished control instantly, as Ollie Lawrence broke through and spun the ball wide to Cokanasiga and he slid into the corner.
Henry Arundell then clinched Bath’s fourth try to make it 26-10, collecting a Ben Spencer kick to the corner and dabbing down.
Exeter needed fresh impetus and Baxter brought on a whole new front row in the opening minutes of the second half. It renewed the visitors’ momentum and turned the tide their way.
Winger Hammersley, on for the injured Ridl before the break, drifted through a gap to run under the posts for a crucial score.
Exeter were growing in confidence and Skinner then threw a dummy to ghost past two Bath players and make ground, with Fisilau getting the ball down to bring them within four points again.
Bath finally made changes of their own but it seemed too late. The mood firmly turned inside the Rec when Cokanasiga was shown a yellow card for a deliberate knock-on with 64 minutes on the clock and Exeter continued to ramp up the pressure.
Burger capped the turnaround, scoring from close range, and although Slade missed his second conversion, Exeter led by a point, their first lead of the game.
Still Bath had one final roll of the dice in the closing minutes, and as they crept in front of the Exeter posts, with Carreras sat in the pocket, ready for a drop-goal attempt, the team stuck with their usually reliable forwards and chose to continue through the phases, only to get held up at the death.
Bath: De Glanville; Cokanasiga, Lawrence, Ojomoh, Arundell; Spencer (c), Carreras; Obano, Dunn, Du Toit Roux, Ewels, Bayliss, Underhill, Barbeary.
Replacements: Tuipulotu, Van Wyk, Sela, Molony, Hill, Van der Linde, Redpath, Reid.
Sin-bin: Cokanasiga (64 mins)
Exeter: Woodburn; Brown-Bampoe, Slade, Ikitau, Ridl; Skinner, Varney; Sio, Norey, Iosefa-Scott, Jenkins (c), Zambonin, Hooper, Tshiunza, Fisilau.
Replacements: Dweba, Burger, Tchumbadze, Tuima, Vintcent, Cairns, Wimbush, Hammersley.
Sin-bin: Slade (10).
Referee: Christophe Ridley.
