Bristol Bears incredible run of 10 away wins in the Gallagher Premiership was brought to an end against ice-cold Saracens on Saturday night with a 35-28 defeat at the StoneX Stadium.

Saracens were the last side to beat Bristol on their travels, and that has been the status quo for the last 19 years. But the Bears, missing so many star players to injuries, were in the contest far more than the scoreline suggests having dominated possession and territory, and still earned an attacking bonus point after notching a fourth try in the 80th minute through replacement Jake Heenan.

Had debut Harry Byrne, who joined the club on a three-month loan deal from Leinster this week, landed the final conversion of the match from the right touchline, the Bears would even have headed back off to the snowy South West with a second losing bonus point. As it was, the tries from Harry Randall, Kalaveti Ravouvou and Harry Thacker helped ensure Bristol remain second in the table, albeit with the chasing pack now closing in on them.

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Tom Willis surged over for two tries to give England boss Steve Borthwick another compelling reminder that his Test debut is overdue as Saracens bounced back from their record Gallagher Premiership defeat at Bath a week earlier. A cathartic evening for Saracens following their 68-10 demolition at the Recreation Ground also produced tries for Fergus Burke, who crossed twice, and Lucio Cinti to give Jamie George the win he was seeking on his 300th appearance for the club.

Once an issue with the stadium clock resetting to zero after a few minutes had been played was sorted out, Saracens set about constructing their first try. Cinto was kept out by a last-ditch tackle after being presented with a half-chance by sharp passing from Alex Lozowski and Elliot Daly, but then Willis arrived and his strength propelled the hosts across the line.

Saracens launched another raid made possible by the speed and handling of their backs and several phases later they were over again, with Nick Tompkins and George creating the gap for Burke to glide through.

Harry Randall hit back for Bristol from close range, his dummy deceiving the home defence, just as his side appeared to be running out of ideas.

Soon after, Saracens were once again being assailed in the same position of the field and they suffered a setback when Maro Itoje was shown a yellow card for three consecutive offences, the eighth time in 21 games he has been sent to the sin bin.

The Bears continued to press only to concede consecutive penalties, letting the six-time Premiership champions off the hook.

Daly was successful from the tee from 50 metres out to nudge Saracens 10 points head – the only score while Itoje was in the sin bin.

And just as Bristol renewed their assault on the home whitewash, Ellis Genge had a pass picked off by Itoje who galloped forward before play swung right where the marauding Willis touched down to finish a 95m try.

Willis then demonstrated his range of skills by bursting through two white shirts when surging through a breakdown and then offloading out of the tackle, with Cinti scoring to register the bonus point.

The Bears' bench brought renewed hope as Kalaveti Ravouvou crossed in the 61st minute to start a Bristol fightback which continued when Harry Thacker finished a line-out maul, but Burke put the result beyond doubt before with a sharp finish in the corner.

Replacement flanker Jake Heenan struck late on from another catch and drive drill to give Bristol something from the game before switching their attention to the Champions Cup next weekend with a must win game against Benetton at Ashton Gate.

Saracens: 15 Elliot Daly, 14 Rotimi Segun, 13 Alex Lozowski, 12 Nick Tompkins, 11 Lucio Cinti, 10 Fergus Burke, 9 Ivan van Zyl; 1 Rhys Carre, 2 Jamie George, 3 Marco Riccioni, 4 Maro Itoje (c), 5 Harry Wilson, 6 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 7 Ben Earl, 8 Tom Willis

Replacements : 16 Kapeli Pifeleti, 17 Phil Brantingham, 18 Alec Clarey, 19 Olamide Sodeke, 20 Nathan Michelow, 21 Gareth Simpson, 22 Olly Hartley, 23 Angus Hall

Bristol Bears: 15. Rich Lane, 14. Jack Bates, 13. Benhard Janse van Rensburg, 12. James Williams, 11. Noah Heward, 10. Sam Worsley, 9. Harry Randall, 1. Ellis Genge, 2. Gabriel Oghre, 3. George Kloska, 4. James Dun, 5. Jamie Hodgson, 6. Steven Luatua, 7. Fitz Harding (c), 8. Viliame Mata.

Replacements: 16. Harry Thacker, 17. Yann Thomas, 18. Jimmy Halliwell, 19, Steele Barker, 20. Jake Heenan, 21. Kieran Marmion, 22. Harry Byrne, 23 Kalaveti Ravouvou

Referee : Matthew Carley

Assistant Referees : Hamish Smales & Wayne Falla

TMO : David Rose