Ospreys 17 Cardiff Blues 12
Sunday 1 January 2012 6.30pm kick off.
The first RaboDirect match of 2012 saw the Blues visit the Liberty stadium with Gavin Henson returning to his old stomping ground to take on the Ospreys.
The Blues conceded an early penalty when Tito failed to roll away from a tackle and young Ospreys outside half Mathew Morgan slotted the points. The youngsters then showed his pace with a blistering break into the Blues half before being awarded a further penalty that he converted.
It was the Ospreys who had the better start but the Blues were also putting pressure on themselves with some aimless kicking. The Ospreys came close to scoring with Tommy Bowe nearly squeezing in on the right but Cuthbert managed to stop the danger before Navidi cleared.
It was all one way and the Blues nearly broke for a try when Marc Breeze emerged with the ball in midfield and sprinted to the Ospreys twenty-two with nobody in front of him. However, his pass to Gavin Evans was just intercepted to prevent what could have been the opening try.
It was an entertaining opening but the Ospreys were dominating. Bradley Davies did well to win the ball in the ruck and break out of the Blues twenty-two after Morgan had chipped through to put further pressure on Cardiff Blues. Minutes later the youngster stepped up for another penalty goal, but it just drifted short.
However, Halfpenny was accurate with his halfway line effort to put points on the board for the Blues before adding a second from long range to put the scores level. Despite a shaky start the Blues had got back in the game and were level at half time.
Half time Ospreys 6 Cardiff Blues 6
It was all to play for in the second half and the Blues had made a change with Parks coming on for Sweeney, who looked as though he’d taken a bang at the end of the first half.
The first try of the match eventually came on the 50th minute. The Ospreys won a scrum in the Blues twenty-two and they looked to ship the ball right, where Bowe had just enough power and pace to squeeze over in the corner, Morgan wide with the conversion.
The Blues looked to respond immediately with forwards and backs combining well to drive all the way up to the Ospreys try-line. Halfpenny came close but the ball was turned over and the Liberty team cleared. Another wave of Blues attack followed but again they were turned over and Ospreys clearing. However, Halfpenny again narrowed the deficit with his third penalty effort.
There was twenty minutes left for the Blues to get a penalty to claim the win but they were finding it hard to get out of their own half with constant Ospreys pressure pinning them back.
They did make their way up field through a Parks kick and stole a line out, before Parks slotted a drop goal to put the Blues ahead with 10 minutes left.
The lead would not last for long with Bigger, who had come on for Morgan, slotting two easy penalties to secure the Ospreys win.
Cardiff Blues 15 Gavin Henson 14 Leigh Halfpenny 13 Casey Laulala 12 Gavin Evans 11 Alex Cuthbert 10 Ceri Sweeney (40off) 9 Lloyd Williams (64off)
8 Xavier Rush 7 Josh Navidi 6 Maama Molitika 5 Paul Tito (c) (8off) 4 Bradley Davies 3 Scott Andrews 2 Marc Breeze (70off) 1 John Yapp (62off)
16 Rhys Williams (70on) 17 Sam Hobbs (62on) 18 Ryan Harford 19 Michael Paterson (8on) 20 Thomas Young 21 Richie Rees (64on) 22 Dan Parks (40on) 23 Harry Robinson
Ospreys 15 Barry Davies 14 Tommy Bowe 13 Andrew Bishop 12 Ashley Beck 11 Shane Williams/Hanno Dirksen 10 Matthew Morgan 9 Kahn Fotuali’i
1 Ryan Bevington 2 Richard Hibbard 3 Adam Jones 4 Ryan Jones 5 Jonathan Thomas 6 James King 7 Justin Tipuric (Capt) 8 George Stowers
16 Huw Bennett 17 Duncan Jones 18 Aaron Jarvis 19 Tom Smith 20 Joe Bearman 21 Rhys Webb 22 Dan Biggar 23 Tom Isaacs
Cardiff Blues
Tries
Cons
Pen Halfpenny x 3
D/G Parks x 1
Oapreys
Tries Bowe x 1
Cons
Pen Morgan x 2 Biggar x 2
D/G
Yellow Cards:
Attendance: 11,186