Francois Louw's last-gasp try secured a vital 27-22 Challenge Cup away win for Bath at Agen on Thursday.
The Springbok flank, Louw, burrowed over from close-range with just 30 seconds remaining to ensure Bath will top Pool Four at the end of Round Two.
Louw's dramatic intervention from the base of a ruck just a metre shy of the Agen line provided a fitting finale to a compelling encounter in which the lead changed hands five times at the Stade Armandie.
Agen looked set for a second successive win themselves after Raphael Lagarde kicked his fifth penalty with nine minutes remaining but Louw's late, late converted score made it 27-22 as Bath stunned the home support at the death.
The South African's effort also brought Bath a try-scoring bonus point, with the visitors having earlier crossed through scrumhalf Michael Claassens, wing Kyle Eastmond and flyhalf Stephen Donald.
Agen actually led for the entirety of the first half as Benjamin Petre touched down with just three minutes played and Lagarde added a 21st-minute penalty to his successful conversion.
But Bath scored three times in a 20-minute spell either side of the break, with Claassens cutting the gap on 33 minutes, Eastmond levelling the scores after 46 minutes and Donald giving Bath a 20-16 lead after Lagarde had kept the scoreboard ticking over for the hosts.
The other fixture in this pool sees Bucharest Wolves host Cammi Rugby Calvisano in Romania after both those sides lost their opening fixtures.
* In the other game on Thursday Gloucester had a bonus point sewn up by half-time as they saw off Bordeaux-Begles 25-13 at Kingsholm.
Having secured a hard-fought victory at Mont de Marsan in Round One, Gloucester moved to the top of Pool One for at least 48 hours thanks to a blistering first 35 minutes in the West Country.
Lock Will James and flyhalf Billy Twelvetrees crossed on five and 11 minutes respectively before wing Charlie Sharples scored twice in a 10-minute spell towards the end of the first period.
Bordeaux playmaker Nicolas Sanchez kicked two penalties in between Gloucester's four first-half scores but the home side were good value for their 25-6 lead at the break.
The second-half was a far tighter affair as the Cherry and Whites failed to build on the momentum they established in the opening period.
Despite the game and their hopes of reversing last week's defeat to London Irish already effectively beyond them, Bordeaux refused to give up the fight and had little trouble keeping Gloucester out of their 22 for large periods.
The French side enjoyed a one-man advantage when James was sent to the sin bin on 51 minutes but they weren't able to make the most of the extra numbers as Kingsholm waited for another score of some sort.
The final 40 minutes looked set to finish scoreless - much to the disappointment of The Shed in particular - but it was a case of job done regardless for the 2006 Amlin Challenge Cup winners who now look forward to the back-to-back encounters with Premiership rivals London Irish in Rounds 3 and 4.
But it was Bordeaux who at least had the final say as blindside flanker Damien Larrieu burst through with the last play of the game for a well-deserved converted try that added a greater respectability to the score line.
The other fixture in this pool takes place in Reading on Saturday afternoon as the Exiles host Mont de Marsan at the Madejski Stadium.
Thursday's scores and scorers!
Agen 22-27 Bath:
The scorers:
For Agen:
Try: Petre
Con: Lagarde
Pens: Lagarde 5
For Bath:
Tries: Eastmond, Donald, Claassens, Louw
Cons: Donald 2
Pen: Donald 1
Yellow card: Damien Lagrange (Agen)
Teams:
Agen: 15 Louis Bataille, 14 Leka Tagotago, 13 Benjamin Petre, 12 Mathieu Lamoulie, 11 Belisario Agulla, 10 Raphael Lagarde, 9 Alexi Bales, 8 Opéti Fonua, 7 Pierre Julien, 6 Antoine Erbani, 5 Damien Lagrange, 4 Léo Bastien, 3 Viliamu Afatia, 2 Semisi Telefoni, 1 John Schwalger.
Replacements: 16 Julien Janaudy, 17 Laurent Cabarry 18 Julien Moretto, 19 William Demotte, 20 Uelenitoni Fono, 21 Sylvain Dupuy, 22 Vincent Roux, 23 Romain Edmond-Samuel.
Bath: 15 Nick Abendanon, 14 Kyle Eastmond, 13 Dan Hipkiss, 12 Ben Williams, 11 Tom Biggs, 10 Stephen Donald, 9 Michael Claassens, 8 Ben Skirving, 7 Will Skuse, 6 Francois Louw, 5 David Attwood, 4 Dominic Day, 3 David Wilson, 2 Lee Mears, 1 Paul James.
Replacements: 16 Will Tanner, 17 Nathan Catt, 18 Anthony Perenise, 19 Guy Mercer, 20 Josh Ovens, 21 Mark McMillan, 22 Sam Vesty, 23 Olly Woodburn.
Referee: Neil Hennessy
Assistants: James Jones, Martyn Lewis
TMO: Gareth Simmonds
Gloucester 25-13 Bordeaux-Begles:
The scorers:
For Gloucester
Tries: Sharples 2, Twelvetrees, James
Con: Twelvetrees
Pen: Twelvetrees
For Bordeaux
Try: Gibouin
Con: Lopez
Pens: Sanchez 2
Yellow card: Will James (Gloucester)
Teams:
Gloucester: 15 Martyn Thomas, 14 Charlie Sharples, 13 Tim Molenaar, 12 Mike Tindall, 11 James Simpson-Daniel, 10 Billy Twelvetrees, 9 Jimmy Cowan, 8 Ben Morgan, 7 Akapusi Qera, 6 Sione Kalafamoni, 5 Jim Hamilton, 4 Will James, 3 Shaun Knight, 2 Huia Edmonds, 1 Dan Murphy.
Replacements: 16 Koree Britton, 17 Nick Wood, 18 Rupert Harden, 19 Tom Savage, 20 Matt Cox, 21 Dan Robson, 22 Tim Taylor, 23 Rob Cook.
Bordeaux-Begles: 15 Darly Domvo, 14 Avesini Vasuinubu, 13 Charles Brousse, 12 Michel Denetre, 11 Thierry Brana, 10 Nicolas Sanchez, 9 Julien Seron, 8 Damien Larrieu, 7 Rohan Kitshoff, 6 Gauthier Gibouin, 5 François Tisseau, 4 Carolis Navickas, 3 Yassin Boutemane, 2 Fabien Rofes, 1 Franck Labbe.
Replacements: 16 Stéphane Fort, 17 Laurent DelBoulbes, 18 Jefferson Poirot, 19 Andrew Chauveau, 20 Félix Le Bourhis, 21 Baptiste Serin, 22 Camille Lopez, 23 Hugh Chalmers.
Referee Marius Mitrea (Italy)
Assistants: Carlo Damasco (Italy), Claudio Blessano (Italy)
TMO: Alan Falzone (Italy)
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