Sarries enjoy Bath time

Saracens returned to winning ways in the Aviva Premiership as they scored 14 unanswered points in the second half at the Rec to beat Bath 17-13.

Opportunistic tries from Kameli Ratouvu and James Short made sure Brendan Venter's depleted side bounced back from their shock home loss to Exeter in their last league outing.

Bath had appeared on course for their first home league victory since the end of September thanks to a try from Nick Abendanon and eight points from Olly Barkley's left boot.

However Sarries showed true fighting spirit to hit back with two tries in the space of 10 minutes, both of them being converted by Owen Farrell.

Impressive

The young fly-half, son of former England international Andy Farrell, now on the coaching staff with the London club, had already kicked a penalty in the opening 40 minutes in an impressive first start in the number 10 shirt.

He had been drafted into the team late on after Saracens had seen Alex Goode and Brad Barritt both fail fitness tests before kick-off.

Things got even worse when they lost Adam Powell to a shoulder injury after taking a shuddering hit from Abendanon in the opening quarter.

By then Barkley had already kicked Bath into the lead and the centre added a further three points after 25 minutes following a high shot from Saracens hooker Schalk Brits.

Full-back Abendanon was on the wrong end of the illegal tackle but he quickly recovered to grab the opening try of the afternoon; twice hacking on Michael Claasens' deflected box kick before diving on the ball as it rolled over the line.

Barkley added the conversion to put the hosts 13-0 ahead and on course to finally end their miserable run of form in front of their own fans.

However Sarries had other ideas, as they turned the game on its head in the second 40 minutes.

Farrell, who had booted their only points in the first half with a 32nd minute penalty, cleverly spotted space out wide to the left to set up their first try.

His speculative punt turned defence into attack immediately, Short keeping the ball alive by kicking it back infield to set up team-mate Ratuvou.

Caught cold

The centre only just took the chance, though, trapping the ball between his legs with his first attempt to dive on it. He did eventually manage to complete the job, with TV match official Brian Hughes awarding the try.

If Bath had been caught cold for the first try then they simply shot themselves in the foot when it came to Sarries' second.

Abendanon took too long with a clearing kick to allow Short to charge it down, the winger being left with an easy run to the line from the loose ball.

Trailing by four, Bath threw everything at a well-organised and aggressive Saracens defence in an attempt to try and find a way back into the contest.

But any chance they had of a late rally disappeared when Barkley was sin-binned for a high tackle in the closing minutes. Richard Wigglesworth missed the resulting penalty but Sarries still held on for the win.