The Friday night lights twinkled brightly but Bath's shining unbeaten home record this season has been abruptly extinguished. Saracens have been building up to a performance like this and sit very comfortably on top of the Premiership table with six games to play. They are now 13 points ahead of third-placed Bath and it is extremely hard to see anyone denying Sarries and Northampton home advantage in the play-off semi-finals.
Even worse for Bath was the manner of a fifth successive loss to Saracens beside the River Avon. The visitors could have been excused an off-key display after losing an unwell Charlie Hodgson moments before kick-off but the precise opposite unfolded, sharply taken first-half tries by wingers Chris Wyles and David Strettle leaving Bath with far too much to do from 17-3 down.
Saracens could conceivably have won by more. A fine cover tackle by Ford on Joel Tomkins denied them a first-quarter try and Bath, for the first 40 minutes at least, rarely approached the heights of accuracy or excellence which had yielded seven straight wins in all competitions since December.
They certainly could not summon up anything like the cutting edge of Saracens on the counter, despite George Ford's best efforts at fly-half.
Alex Goode, pressed into service at No10 in Hodgson's absence, barely put a foot wrong and it was his teasing miss-pass which allowed Tomkins enough room to slip a 33rd-minute off-load to Duncan Taylor with Wyles lurking outside him on the left. The American international did juggle the ball momentarily but clung on splendidly at full speed to complete the touchdown.
Bath will also rue the quickly taken throw-in from Matt Banahan to Peter Stringer which would have produced a try had the ball not been adjudged to have gone forward. Worse was to follow in the final minute of the half when Taylor hacked downfield, Bath's covering defence failed to gather it and Brad Barritt's inch-perfect cross-kick bounced perfectly for the flying Strettle.
Barritt and the indefatigable Jacques Burger also led from the front defensively, the flanker bringing a end to Stringer's night with a ferocious tackle which pole-axed the diminutive Irish international early in the second-half. When the Namibian also floored Anthony Watson with another shoulder-level hit, the crowd went ballistic and, with assistance from the TV match official, the referee Luke Pearce brandished a yellow card to the delight of the increasingly aggrieved locals.
Even with 14 men, though, Sarries proved a hard nut to crack. A Goode drop-goal had already stretched their lead to 17 points prior to Burger's departure and the award of a 72nd-minute penalty try following a lengthy period of scrum pressure did not faze them unduly. Sure enough, a second Goode penalty soon materialised, underlining the fact that Saracens do not need Hodgson or Owen Farrell to remain highly competitive. Sarries have now lost only once in their last 10 games and look a team entering the business end of the season with distinct relish.
Bath: Abendanon; Watson, Devoto (Henson, 63), Eastmond, Banahan (Rokoduguni, 68); Ford, Stringer (Young, 43); James (Catt, 60), Batty, Perenise Orlandi, 60), Day, Attwood, Fa'osiliva (Mercer, h/t), Louw (capt), Houston.
Try Penalty try. Con Ford. Pen Ford.
Saracens: Wyles; Strettle, Tomkins, Barritt, Taylor; Goode, De Kock; M Vunipola, Brits, Johnston (Stevens, 59), Borthwick (capt), Kruis, Wray, Burger, Joubert.
Tries Wyles, Strettle. Cons Goode 2. Pens Goode 2. Drop-goal Goode.
Sin-bin: Burger 65, Wyles 78.
Referee: L Pearce (RFU).
