Saracens picked up their first win of the new year as they defeated Bath 26-19 at Vicarage Road in the Premiership.

Mark McCall’s side had a poor start to the match as Stephen Donald went over for the visitors. But Steve Borthwick scored against his old club to give Sarries a slender lead at the break.

Owen Farrell missed several kicks which would have eased the hosts clear but Chris Wyles’ skilful individual try ensured the champions closed the gap on leaders Harlequins to three points.

Charlie Hodgson returned to the starting lineup after missing last weekend’s draw with Gloucester. He was joined in the side by winger David Strettle and Ernst Joubert. Former Springbok captain John Smit also came into the team in place of Jamie George.

The Men in Black suffered a poor start to the match as they conceded the opening try after just five minutes. New Zealand World Cup winner Donald picked up the ball and raced through to score under the posts. Donald added the conversion to give the visitors the early advantage.

Saracens wasted a chance to get on the scoreboard after nine minutes when Owen Farrell’s penalty cannoned back off the post.

The home side were temporarily reduced to 14 men when Rhys Gill was shown a yellow card for a scrum infringement.

But the decision seemed to galvanise the hosts and Alex Goode set up Strettle for a brilliant run. The ball was held up but it was played out to Borthwick and the second row scored against his former club. Farrell’s conversion levelled the match midway through the half.

Bath regained the lead from the restart as they were awarded a penalty which Donald confidently fired over.

The visitors were caught offside but the champions failed to make the penalty count as Farrell struck the same post for the second time in the half.

Farrell held his nerve a couple of minutes later when Sarries were handed another penalty and the England prospect levelled the match again.

The Men in Black took the lead for the first time two minutes before half-time after Bath conceded another penalty which was calmly despatched by Farrell.

Bath suffered a blow at the start of the second half when the influential Donald was forced off with an injury and was replaced by Tom Heathcote.

The visitors were caught offside and Farrell extended their lead to six points. Bath missed a chance to reply immediately when Heathcote’s penalty struck the same post for the third time in the contest.

Bath enjoyed a decent spell of territory and their pressure resulted in a penalty which Heathcote fired over in front of the posts. The hosts had the chance to restore their six-point lead but Farrell’s penalty was off target.

Farrell was handed another opportunity but surprisingly he again failed to find the target. It was his fourth miss of the game and meant Bath were still very much in contention.

The hosts killed off the match ten minutes from time when a superb run from Wyles beat the defence and the American international scored the second try. Farrell’s conversion gave Sarries a clear ten-point lead.

Heathcote slotted over a difficult penalty from the touchline with seven minutes left to bring Bath into losing bonus-point territory. But another penalty for Sarries enabled Farrell to stretch their lead to ten points.

With the last play of the game, the visitors were awarded a penalty and Heathcote fired over to seal a deserved losing point for Bath.

Saracens: Goode, Strettle (Short, 72), Farrell, Barritt, Wyles, Hodgson (Powell, 72), Spencer (Stringer, 54); Gill (George, 67), Smit, Stevens (Nieto, 30), Borthwick (Kruis, 71), Botha, Wray, Saull, Joubert (Melck, 54)

Bath: Abendanon, Woodburn, Carraro, Banahan, Biggs, Donald (Heathcote, 44), Claassens; Catt (Beech, 51), Batty (Dixon, 65), Perenise (Wilson, 51), Attwood, Caldwell, Beattie (Skirving, 55), Louw, Taylor

Scoring: 0-5, 0-7, 5-7, 7-7, 7-10, 10-10, 13-10 HT 16-10, 16-13, 21-13, 23-13, 23-16, 26-16, 26-19

Referee: Pascal Gauzere

Attendance: 5,799