MIKE Ford believes Bath Rugby are capable of winning trophies for years to come despite seeing their Aviva Premiership dream dashed this afternoon.

Bath came off second best against a sublime Saracens performance in the final at Twickenham, with the Londoners lifting the trophy after a 28-16 success.

Bath’s chances were all but gone in the first 40 minutes, with a Sarries try treble from Owen Farrell, Jamie George and Chris Wyles handing them a 25-3 advantage at the break.

Although Ford’s troops rallied after the interval and a Jonathan Joseph touchdown gave them a sniff of a chance, the fightback never fully materialised before the final whistle.

Head coach Ford could not hide his disappointment in the aftermath of the game but promised that Bath would be back challenging for honours again soon.

“I said to the team in the huddle, this team is going to win trophies for a long, long time,” said Ford.

“It just adds to our belief in what we’ve done this year, we just haven’t quite cracked the final hurdle.

“It’s small margins sometimes. We’re really, really close. It’s only two years in the making, we’re just going to keep layering the detail on what we want to try to achieve.

“The most important thing is that the guys make the decisions on the field.

“We need to make an environment like we have done at Farleigh where it constantly asks them questions. I believe that’s the way to play, that’s the Bath way.

“It’s been tough to break into the top four in the last four or five years with Quins there but we’ve made a lot of people stand up and we’ve been noticed this year.

“We haven’t quite cracked it but I am very proud of what we have done.”

It could have been so much different for Bath had Farrell not escaped unpunished for a high tackle on full-back Anthony Watson in the first minute.

The incident led to Watson being withdrawn injured soon afterwards, while Farrell went on to produce a man-of-the-match display.

Bath boss Ford, however, believes the Sarries fly-half should have been sent off for the challenge.

"I've got big concerns with it and I've spoken to (refereee) Wayne Barnes about that," said Ford.

"It's an illegal challenge, square on the nose, we lose one of our best players and he goes on to win man of the match.

"I saw it as a red card. Barnes said he should have looked at it more closely on the TMO."