Head coach Mike Ford was left to rue a slow start in each half as Bath Rugby saw their unbeaten start to the new Aviva Premiership season ended by champions Northampton Saints in a 31-24 defeat on Saturday.
Saints touched down twice in the first 15 minutes of either period at Franklin's Gardens, with Bath chasing a 31-10 deficit at one point.
Tries from wing Olly Woodburn and prop Nick Auterac gave the visitors hope of an unlikely comeback but their bid to snatch a draw came up short as they had to settle for a losing bonus point.
England international prop Davey Wilson had earlier touched down in the first half for Bath, who started the day top of the table but now drop to third.
Ford said: "It was very tough in the first half. What we've done since I took over as head coach is start games really well. Sometimes we've blown teams away in the first 20 minutes and it turned around today.
"We had Luke Arscott in the bin and they had 14 points after the first 15 minutes, and that's tough to come back from at Franklin's Gardens.
"To go in at half-time at 17-10 with a foothold in the game after having very little possession, I thought we could do some damage after that.
"In the second half we didn't start well again but at 31-10 down we made a few changes, got a bit of belief, scored a couple of tries and dominated the last 25 minutes.
"We were over the tryline again for a disallowed try but it was our fault, we should have just put the ball down earlier.
"From 31-10 down to come away with a losing bonus point, I'm going to take that."
Bath face another huge task next as they entertain last season's runners-up and current league leaders Saracens on Friday night.
Ford knows his troops will be up against it but Saturday's brave fightback against Saints has given him plenty of belief that Bath can come away with a positive result at The Rec.
"We've got to keep learning as we've not beaten a champion side away from home, and we've got another champion side at home on Friday," said Ford.
"We need to make sure what we've learned today we take into the next game.
"We're getting there and the last 25 minutes today showed what a good side we're going to be. Every game this year we've done better than last year, so we're definitely on the right track.
"I'm really disappointed Northampton got five points but if you look at the league table after four games it's not too bad for us."
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