Plaudits for Saints pack
JJ Hanrahan's long-distance penalty won it for Saints at The Rec, after Semesa Rokoduguni had cancelled out Luther Burrell's score to give Bath an 11-10 lead with ten minutes remaining.
The 23-year-old's penalty was the only score in a first half dominated by set pieces and territory, but the game came to life in the second period.
And with Northampton now up to fifth in the Premiership standings, Mallinder is under no illusions as to who is making the difference for his side.
"We've got mainly young English lads, as well as a couple of senior lads in there helping and it's great to see," he said.
"Over the past few weeks they have been the dominant forwards in the games we've played and we're delighted.
"We thought we were playing into a bit of a breeze in the first half so we were pleased to go in at half-time 3-0 up.
"Our forwards were in control, we were scrummaging very well and putting pressure on their line-out.
"Second half, credit to Bath, they came out and played as they can do, but we defended pretty well and came back in the end to take our opportunity.
"You feel the momentum has shifted a little bit, but you're always in the game and a lot of credit to our lads.
"Away from home at a place like this, you've got to stick in there and take your opportunities."
Meanwhile, Bath head coach Mike Ford admitted his side were once again not at their best in front of their home crowd.
Bath's fourth defeat of the season drops them to ninth in the Premiership standings, and they are still yet to defeat Northampton Saints since February 2011.
He said: "We're disappointed we've lost to a very experienced Northampton side, and they seem to have the wood over us at the moment as they've come away with another close victory.
"We're not playing good enough. We're better than that and the things that we can control we're not controlling the best we can.
"We'll take our medicine. We've got a couple of days off now and I won't say we'll work any harder, because we can't.
"We'll look to get back on the horse against Wasps in the Champions Cup. We'll get back to Farleigh, get back to basics and try to make sure our next performance is one to be proud of."
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