Martin Johnson was unable to inspire Leicester as Zurich Premiership leaders Bath snatched their first victory at Welford Road in eight years.

The England skipper and the rest of the Tigers' Magnificent Seven all made their comebacks but Bath hung on for a famous win despite being reduced to 14-men for the second week in succession after scrum-half Martyn Wood was sent off for stamping.

Johnson, who was given a rousing welcome by the sell-out 16,815 crowd, made his club return at half-time with his side trailing by four points.

The Tigers have been a toothless force without their second row giant and the rest of their England men having lost five of their opening 10 games but would have expected to overcome their visitors given their numerical advantage.

Bath's hopes of a league double over their arch-rivals and a first win at Welford Road since 1995 looked to have been hit midway through the first half when they lost two players in quick succession for vastly different reasons.

Wood, who made a lengthy and all too brief trip to Australia on stand-by duties, was instantly shown the red card by referee Roy Maybank after he was spotted stamping after 25 minutes.

The visitors were still looking to regroup when they were forced into another change when outside-half Mike Catt limped off although at least his replacement was Mike Tindall, the clubmate who was picked ahead of him for last Saturday's World Cup final.

Bath were left clinging onto the lead given them after centre Andrew Higgins broke clear 40 metres out and fended off several weak challengers to score near the near the posts for Olly Barkley to convert.

Barkley added a penalty 10 minutes into injury time to give them more of a buffer for the expected second-half onslaught from a Leicester side who desperately needed a victory to revive a disappointing season.

Johnson, Neil Back and Dorian West all came off the bench to join Julian White, Ben Kay, Martin Corry and Lewis Moody who had all been pressed into action just days after the Rugby World Cup final victory over Australia in Sydney.

Leicester should have used their man advantage to telling effect but often kicked away possession or made crucial handling errors in the greasy conditions.

Still two penalties from outside-half Ramiro Pez following up the two he scored in the first-half looked to have given them the victory they needed after such a disappointing start to the campaign.

But Bath snatched the win when Barkley coolly landed a penalty with just minutes left after Leicester had been caught offside.

A win was no more than Bath deserved after a stunning rearguard action in the second-half with Tindall proving awesome in midfield with a series of crunching tackles.

Forward Danny Grewcock also came on as a replacement to ensure that all 10 of the England men on duty appeared although it was the Bath trio not the Leicester Seven who were smiling at the end.

It might have been different had Pez converted a penalty six minutes into time but he pulled his effort wide to spoil the homecoming.