The hooker has led the Blue & Blacks to two consecutive Welsh derby wins to put themselves firmly in the play-off frame. 

But while Cardiff completed a remarkable comeback against the Scarlets, they almost gave up a 24-7 led against the Ospreys.

On this occasion however, there was no heroic finale from the visitors as Cardiff hung on to take nine from a possible 10 points.

Belcher was delighted with the victory but frustrated with elements of the performance and has called on Cardiff to stick to their game-plan for the full 80 minutes. 

He said: “It was a bit like the opposite of last week. The boys deserve credit for digging in at the end, but we shouldn’t have been in that position. 

“I think it was with about 20 minutes left we had an attacking scrum on their five-metre line, and we are looking for the bonus-point there. We want to be ruthless there and take the five points but unfortunately, we came away with four.

“It was on that 60–62-minute mark where it got away from us. There were too many penalties from there, boys going outside of our shape and going on their own, trying to create something and that’s what happens. 

“We showed for 60 minutes what happens when we stick to our systems and when we were down to 14, due to my yellow card, we didn’t concede any points. It shows our systems are good when we are on it. If we go away from it, that’s what happens. 

“But if you had asked me at the start of the week if I would have taken four, of course I would.”

Cardiff travel away to Glasgow before hosting DHL Stormers at the Arms Park on May 15. Tickets are available now!