HEAD coach John Connolly had few complaints as Bath slipped to only their third league defeat of the season at Franklin's Gardens a result that allowed Wasps to close the gap at the top of the Zurich Premiership to a point.

Northampton secured victory with a breakaway second-half try from their England Under-21 international John Clarke, while fly-half Paul Grayson kicked 11 points to keep Bath at bay in miserable wet conditions.

The win kept Saints in third place with just two games left in the regular league season.

Bath, meanwhile, could still be overhauled by Heineken Cup challengers Wasps for top spot, raising the prospect of their meeting Northampton again at the Rec in next month's play-off semi-final.

"Our first-half performance cost us the game,'' said Connolly.

"In the Zurich Premiership, you are always likely to trip up at any time, but we helped Northampton tremendously with the number of errors we made.

"We also conceded a couple of silly penalties. At worst, we had to get a bonus point from this game, but we didn't.

"Northampton are a very dangerous side, they have got four or five backs who can cause you problems.''

Looking ahead to the remainder of the season, he added: "There are still some tough games ahead, we have got to go to Harlequins and Wasps have got to go to Gloucester, so anything can happen.''

The conditions made constructive rugby impossible, and it was always going to be a low-scoring encounter.

Saints though, struck gold with Clarke's effort, and there was no way back for Bath as England fly-half Paul Grayson kicked three penalties and a conversion on his first appearance since this season's RBS 6 Nations Championship.

Northampton, whose squad had been hit by a stomach bug last week, fielded an unlikely all-England centre partnership of Matt Dawson and Ben Cohen.

Bath welcomed back South African centre Robbie Fleck, almost five months after he suffered a broken leg on just his second Premiership outing against Gloucester at Kingsholm.

Bath's Chris Malone and Grayson exchanged penalties during a tense opening quarter that Bath shaded territorially, while a second Malone penalty 10 minutes before half-time ensured an interval advantage for the visitors.

Bath created little in the way of clear-cut try chances, yet they looked comfortable on the ball, and former England full-back Matt Perry proved an immaculate defensive operator, underlining that his prolonged injury troubles have been put behind him.

Grayson tied the game with a 47th-minute penalty after Bath offended at a line-out, and Northampton then rocked their opponents through an outstanding score.

Flanker Andrew Blowers won turnover ball on the floor, allowing Saints to launch what seemed an optimistic counter-attack from 80metres out.

But Cohen worked Clarke into space with a well-timed pass, and the England Under-21 international skipped across the soaking turf for a try that Grayson converted.

Northampton's lead took on sizeable proportions, given the appalling conditions, and Bath just could not make headway in their attempts to retrieve the situation.

Saints lost injured scrum-half Mark Robinson 10 minutes from time, Dawson moving into the No 9 position before he subsequently limped off.

Not even the second-half appearances of England pair Danny Grewcock and Olly Barkley could inspire Bath, and Grayson had the final say with an injury-time penalty that denied the frustrated visitors a losing bonus point.