When Nicky Little slotted a penalty with nine minutes to go it looked as if the Saints would slump to their first home defeat of the season. But Ashton scored with 30 seconds to go and Myler's conversion ensured the Saints took home the four Guinness Premiership points.

Once director of rugby Jim Mallinder's nerves had settled he was able to be philosophical about the performance and result.

"It was one of those days that could have gone either way," the Saints boss told BBC Radio Northampton. "Bath showed that they are a good side and eleventh is not a good indication of where they are capable of being. For us we stuck at it. We didn't play particularly well. We didn't play badly but we made a few mistakes and there were a couple of decisions that didn't go our way.

"The rain came down and made conditions difficult but to our credit we kept going, utilised their sending off and scored down that wing. It was a good finish to that try, but the build-up to both tries was good. It was a good turnover by [Jon] Clarke on the far side to win the ball in the first place for the first try, and there was good build-up for the second.

"We kept our composure. Ben [Foden] was sensible to come back down to attack the blindside where they didn't have a winger, so there was some good play for the team."

However all Ashton's second try did was to tie the scores up. It fell to Myler to land the match winning conversion, and Mallinder praised the fly half's composure.

"Stephen Myler came on and had a job to do," he said. "It was to come in, steady the ship and look to get that winning penalty. As it happened we needed a try, which we created well, and then he finished it with a fantastic conversion."

For Jon Clarke it was a special day. The big centre led the team out to mark his hundredth first team appearance, but when the action had finished he was just happy to get the points.

"We never got the phases working," he said. "We were perhaps a bit lucky with the win, but we'll take it. We've played poorly before and got the result. Bath are a good team and played really well.

"I'm happy we got a win on my hundredth. It was a great feeling. I've been here seven seasons now and have finally got there. The win made it sweeter. We've got to carry on now and get a good result against Treviso."

Number eight Roger Wilson concurred.

"It took us a bit of time to get into the game in the first half," he said. "We didn't play with the ball at all. But in saying that we came away with the win. It was a good finale. We put the effort in right until the very end and believed we could get the score we needed."

The Heineken Cup returns to Franklin's Gardens next Saturday afternoon when the Saints host Italian Super 10 champions Benetton Treviso. Tickets are available now with prices starting from just £15 for juniors and concessions and £24 for adults. Click here to book online 24 hours a day throughout the weekend.