By David Williams
The Ospreys escaped with a tense 19-22 victory over Cardiff at the Arms Park in the BKT United Rugby Championship after Jarrod Evans blew a late opportunity.
Evans had a chance to earn the home side a share of the spoils with the last kick of the match, but his penalty attempt failed to reach the target.
The defeat sees Cardiff slip to eight in the points table while the Ospreys rise to 12th after securing their second consecutive derby win of the festive season.
Ospreys head coach Toby Booth said: “In conditions like that then the fundamentals of rugby take over like set-piece and defence, which are things that we’re known for.
“But you also have to deliver and the boys did that. Rugby is a collision game. Sometimes you just have to go through the front door and we dominated that area.
Owen Williams wins it for the Ospreys in Cardiff. Good competitive game of rugby. Crazy end to the game 🏴🏉 pic.twitter.com/bUKAjWKYzw
— TheWelshDragon 🏴🐉 (@TheWelshDragon9) January 1, 2023
“To back up a derby win is special. We played the second half on our terms and in tough games its about who can be the smartest.”
Dai Young’s side led 12-7 at the break thanks to tries by Owen Lane and Liam Belcher but in the second half the Ospreys dominance in the scrum paved the way for a second half comeback in testing conditions.
All four hookers used in the game struggled to hit their target in trying circumstances with the rain sweeping in but the home side dug in and did well to stay in the contest as the visitors looked to put their set-piece dominance into points on the board.
Cardiff head coach Dai Young admitted: “It’s always disappointing to lose. There’s not between all four Welsh regions and that was another to go down to the wire.
“The set-piece was a factor but so were the penalties in the second half.
“We struggled to get out of our half with our indiscipline and we made poor decisions around the breakdown which gave them easy field position and momentum. If you keep giving the Ospreys lineouts five metres out, they’re going to convert a few of them.”
The second half was only three minutes old when fly half Owen Williams squeezed over after Tomos Williams failed to clear from his own line. A partial charge down saw the ball propelled into the Ospreys fly half’s path and he burrowed his way over to level the score.
Replacement hooker Dewi Lake put the Ospreys ahead for the first time in the match on 53mins when he was driven over from a close-range maul.
The first #BKTURC try of 2023!@Cardiff_Rugby lead at home to the Ospreys 🔵#URC | #CARvOSP pic.twitter.com/Eihd4yNaiE
— BKT United Rugby Championship (URC) (@URCOfficial) January 1, 2023
In a game played at a frenetic pace, the Ospreys lost a man when Roots was sent to the sin bin for upending Liam Williams in a tackle. The home side took full advantage and scored a brilliant try when Josh Adams took Evans’ cross field kick on the burst and outstripped the defence to score in the corner. Evans’ sideline conversion squared the game 19-19 with 12mins to play.
Both sides were down to 14 men when Cardiff hooker Kirby Myhill tackled Joe Hawkins high. The Ospreys edged their way back into Cardiff territory and looked to have wrapped up the points when Williams edged the visitors back in front with a well taken penalty with three minutes remaining.
With one last charge Cardiff worked their way back into Ospreys territory to earn themselves a penalty but Evans was unable to rescue a draw for the home fans.
