DIRECTOR of rugby Todd Blackadder was hugely disappointed with his side's effort as Bath continued their disappointing season by crashing to defeat against Exeter Chiefs in the Anglo-Welsh Cup final.

Bath were previously unbeaten in this season's tournament but were comfortably second best on the day at Kingsholm, losing 28-11 as they continued their drought of not having won a trophy since 2008 when they won the European Challenge Cup.

Their only contributions to the scoreboard were a Cooper Vuna try and two penalties from Freddie Burns.

"We set ourselves up in the first quarter as our kicking was aimless and our discipline killed us," said Blackadder.

"We were on the back foot for the whole of the first 20 minutes and didn't have any possession at all.

"We prepared well but they executed better and we didn't play the game, we said we would.

"We came out a different team after the interval but it shouldn't take a rocket at half-time to make us turn in a performance.

"All we can do is prepare to try and beat Leicester in the Premiership next week but we are just seeking a performance on the field that we can be proud of."

Exeter skills coach Ricky Pellow hailed the depth of his Chiefs' squad after maintaining their impressive record in the Anglo-Welsh Cup competition.

It was the fourth consecutive occasion that Exeter had contested the final and they regained the trophy they won in 2014 after losing the last two.

Jack Innard scored two of their tries, Toby Salmon the other, with Joe Simmonds adding three penalties and two conversions Pellow said: "I'm really proud of this group of players as we thought we were out of this competition at various stages during the season, especially in the Saracens match.

"The club has a squad of 48-52 players and we have faith in all of them, and they showed that today by playing with emotion and passion in a competition that is a massive part of the club's development plan."

Young fly-half Simmonds contributed a crucial 13 points and believes Exter are improving as a unit.

"We wanted to go one better than last year as we weren't good enough then but learnt a lot from that experience," he said.

"They were different games against sides with different styles but the conditions today weren't the best though they probably helped us in the long run.

"We have a huge game at home to Gloucester next week ahead of a last big block of four in the Premiership."