Barkley's kicking punished Saints

Bath (16) 22
Tries: Grewcock, Abendanon
Pens: Barkley 4

Northampton (0) 17
Tries: Robinson, Kydd
Cons: Bourett 2
Pen: Bourett

Bath held off a courageous second-half fightback by Northampton to pull away from the Premiership relegation zone.

They led 16-0 at half-time with tries from Danny Grewcock and Nick Abendanon and two Olly Barkley penalties.

Barkley's boot had Bath leading 22-3 on the hour before Saints battled back, with Mark Robinson's try on 68 minutes converted by Matthieu Bourett.

He also kicked a penalty before ex-Bath star Robbie Kydd grabbed a late try to salvage a precious losing bonus point.

Bath settled quicker, and an early Grewcock drive forced Northampton to concede a penalty under the posts with Barkley on target.

He added a second penalty four minutes later, and his kicks to touch kept the visitors pinned back.

Great defensive work by the Saints kept the home side at bay but their resistance came at a price when Christian Labit was sin-binned in the 19th minute.

It was no real surprise when Grewcock crashed over for the first try on 20 minutes having won the line out that initially set up the chance.

On 36 minutes, Abendanon ran back a loose kick from his own 10m line, sprinting through until hauled down just short of the line by Bruce Reihana.

But Bath kept possession and Abendanon was again on hand to stretch over for the unconverted try.

Frenchman Bourret put Saints on the scoreboard shortly the break, but Barkley replied with his third penalty on 50 minutes.

Barkley made it 22-3 on 60 minutes, but Bath then went on the defensive and Saints' scrum-half Robinson stretched out to score on 68 minutes with Bourret converting.

As Bath lost their shape Northampton seized the chance of the losing bonus point when Carlos Spencer made space for Kydd to score on the left.

"The first half was really positive and we played good rugby.

"Now with four matches left in the Premiership we still have an opportunity to get into the top half of the table which would be better than last year."

"Our attitude is one of looking up rather than down the table - there's a good positive mindset now."

"We gave Bath a free ride in the first 40 and it seemed the players got so wound up that they almost paralysed themselves.

"After that we stuck to what we are good at, played simple rugby in the right parts of the field and scored two good tries.

"The bonus point could prove crucial over the next few weeks. Two or three months ago we would have rolled over."

Bath: Abendanon, Maddock, Fuimaono-Sapolu, Barkley, Bory, Malone, Walshe, Barnes, Dixon, Stevens, Short, Grewcock, Beattie, Lipman, Feau'nati.
Replacements: Williams for Walshe (72), Hawkins for Dixon (70), Louw for Grewcock (70), Scaysbrook for Lipman (70). Not Used: Jarvis, Walker, Berne.

Northampton: Reihana, Bourett, Mallon, Kydd, Cohen, Spencer, Robinson, Smith, Hartley, Brooks, D. Browne, Short, Tupai, Fox, Labirt.
Replacements: Cortese for Hartley (72), Tonga'uiha for Brooks (61), Lord for D. Browne (61). Not Used: Hopley, J. Howard, Myler, Going.