A DEFEAT to start their season but with Bath bringing all their big guns to the party and Edinburgh resting many of theirs, there was plenty for Richard Cockerill, the home head coach, to build on for the season ahead.

In particular he was happy with what he saw of Henry Pyrgos, the former Glasgow scrum-half who moved down the M8 in the summer, who came on in the second half looking fast and fit as he helped them raise the pace, if not always the accuracy, of their game.

"It was a good hit out for us, there was a bit of rustiness from both teams but physically and defensively I thought we did some good things," he said. "We have a lot to improve on but for a starting point, it is a good one. There were 20-plus turnovers in the game, which was a bit frustrating, if we had controlled the ball better we might have come away with the result as well.

"Much as I hate losing, it was a good start for us, because there are a lot of good lads to come back into the team while the young lads out there did a good job."

As for Pyrgos, he was reserving his judgement slightly, anxious to praise Sean Kennedy, who started, as well as the newcomer.

"Sean Kennedy did well, and Henry as well when he came on. He's a good player. When he gets playing and the people around him get used to him he's going to be a great asset," Cockerill said.

He is right, the thing about these games is that the result really does not matter too much, as the fact that there were 65 players on duty between the two sides, and Edinburgh were not remotely at full strength even with 35 players to pick from, demonstrates. There were plenty of more important things at stake.

Cockerill could be delighted with the enthusiasm shown by Tom Brown after nine months out injured and that Hamish Watson came through his prep and landed 40 minutes without any damage after the shoulder surgery that forced him to miss the end of last season.

"Obviously having surgery over the summer it's good to get him fully fit and back on the field. That first half was competitive and physical and Hamish did well," said Cockerill.

"I'm obviously disappointed with the result because you always want to win but the most important thing for us is to get ready for Ospreys then into Ulster. Bath are a good side but it's a game we could have won. But if you make that amount of errors and invite them in, with guys like Taulupe Faletau and guys like Jamie Roberts and Rhys Priestland into the back line to finish the game off it's going to be difficult."

In fact the most important statistic from the home point of view was that Meggetland was just about full. They have played key league matches at the ground with half as many people there, so getting a crowd of around 4,000 for a pre-season game augurs well for the season ahead. Maybe, just maybe, last season's comparative success has finally hit a nerve with the Edinburgh public and got them to swing behind the side. The test will come when they head back to Murrayfield.

Edinburgh spent long periods defending – and in that area, there was plenty of cheer for Cockerill as Bath piled into the attack and made limited inroads against determined tacklers.

For all that, if you hammer even the strongest wall long enough, it will break and the defence was eventually breached. Tom Ellis, the flanker, was driven over, but that spurred Edinburgh to concentrate more and as they got beyond two or three phases they also started to find gaps.

What they could not do was hang onto the ball long enough to convert any into tries and had to be satisfied with a penalty from Jason Baggott on the stroke of half time.

The only players to come out for the second half were Dougie Fife and Baggott, both injury replacements in the first 40, but it seemed to be the spark Edinburgh needed as they at last found enough continuity for Pyrgos, to show his worth by picking out Chris Dean for the opening Scottish try.

Bath hit back on the hour mark with Roberts crashing over and Priestland converting, which was enough to earn them the result without doing anything to dent Edinburgh's confidence that they can start the real season with a bang.

Edinburgh: Try: Dean (41). Pen: Baggot (39).

Bath: Tries: Ellis (27), Roberts (65). Con: Priestland.

Scoring sequence (Edinburgh first): 0-5, 3-5 (half time), 10-5, 10-12.

Edinburgh: T Brown; J Blain, J Johnstone, M Scott, D van der Merwe; S Hickey, S Kennedy; P Schoeman, S McInally (C), M McCallum, J Hodgson, B Toolis, J Ritchie, H Watson, B Mata. Replacements (all used): R Sutherland, D Cherry, J Stanley, D Marfo, P Ceccarelli, R Ford, C Hunter-Hill, C Atkinson, C Shiel, H Pyrgos, J Baggott, C Dean, D Fife, G Taylor, M Bennett, J Pablo Socino, R McLean, S Nayalo, L Hamilton, M Mason.

Bath: D Atkins; S Rokoduguni, M Wright, M Clark, J Wilson; F Burns, W Chudley; N Catt, J Walker, A Perenise, M Garvey (c), D Attwood, T Ellis, J Bayliss, Z Mercer. Replacements (all used): M van Vuuren, W Vaughan, S Nixon, V Delmas, E Stooke, L Douglas, M Reid, S Underhill, T Faletau, M Green, C Cook, R Priestland, J Roberts, J Willison, J Cokanasiga.

Referee: M Adamson (Scotland)