Mike Ford looks on from the touchline© (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

Bath coach Mike Ford bemoaned his team's handling in the wake of their Aviva Premiership final defeat to Saracens and said Owen Farrell deserved a red card for his first-half hit on Anthony Watson.

The Bath fullback was forced off after seven minutes following a high tackle from Farrell. Referee Wayne Barnes gave Bath a penalty but did not take any further action. When Ford was asked post-match for whether he believed Farrell should have seen red, he answered: "I did".

"It was a big concern, I've spoken to Wayne Barnes about that," Ford said. "It was an illegal challenge, square on the nose. We lose one of our best players and the other guy stays on and gets Man of the Match." Ford said Watson, who was clearly dazed before going off to be assessed for concussion, is "good and has come round and is fine."

Saracens ended up taking the match 28-16 and were 22 points to the good at half-time thanks to some ruthless finishing profiting from Bath's handling errors. 

"We were 25-3 down at half-time, it was tough. Those two passes that went astray cost us 14 points and that was key. I thought the first half we didn't get into our attacking shape as good as we have done all year. We were a bit frantic there but it's tough to get in [at half-time] with that deficit.

"We were positive at half-time and thought if there is one team who can score a number of points in the second half it's us and I thought we fired a few shots then and got within 12. Credit to Saracens who took their opportunities and in the last 20 minutes our set-piece fell apart but credit to them, they saw the game out.

"We looked each other in the eyes and said it's been a fantastic season and [we] broke into the top two. We are playing a style of rugby that we believe in. It's not all about throwing the football around, it's about players making decisions in a player-led environment.

"We'll learn, we'll get better as we always do and hopefully this time next year we'll pull the match out of the locker. We're proud of what we've done and we'll come back stronger."

Ford also praised the performance of Sam Burgess, saying: "I thought he was outstanding. We put him in the back field and he carried well. I'd like to see his stats as he'd be up with the best of them today. We're really pleased with his progression."