Jones’ men made it four wins from their last five matches in all competitions thanks to a resounding New Year’s Day bonus point victory over Cardiff at the Brewery Field.
The Ospreys stopped Cardiff from briefly going top of the BKT United Rugby Championship as they condemned them to a second Welsh derby defeat - 33-22 - from their three festive fixtures.
The Welsh Rugby Union may believe they can snuff out rugby in Wales’ second city without much blowback, but no other team in Wales can do it at present.
Kieran Hardy and Dan Edwards controlled the game superbly for the first 70 minutes as the home side built up a 26-point lead.
READ MORE: Mark Jones Insists Defiant Ospreys are Honouring the Badge
Cardiff hauled that back to 11 by the end as they ran in three late tries from Josh Adams, Taulupe Faletau and Javan Sebsatian to at least pick up a try bonus point.
A sold out Brewery Field rejoiced in one of the best performances of the season from Jones’ home side as they hauled themselves into play-off contention by moving into the top eight a few weeks after being bottom of the pile.
“When you play a side like Cardiff who are third in the league and have amassed as many wins as they have, we knew we had to be at our best today,” said Jones.
“I thought we were exceptional."
READ MORE: Ospreys’ Aussie Ryan Smith is Warming to Welsh Rugby
Cardiff head coach Corniel Van Zyl admitted his team were second best in too many areas as the Blue & Blacks were outmuscled despite salvaging bonus point.
“Basically we got beaten in every aspect of the game,” said Van Zyl.
“Especially early on we struggled with field position and then obviously the yellow card meant we lived under pressure.
“We handled a few things decently at first, like the physicality, but ultimately it just took too much out of us.
“In the second half, I felt like once we were back to 15 we could go again. But they applied pressure straight away, we made a few mistakes and it was pressure on pressure. They punished us with a few tries.
“To be fair, hats off to the boys for the fight and spirit of going for it,” said Van Zyl.
“It’s nice to see, but ultimately we lost the game, so it’s tough to take.”
READ MORE: Ospreys Chief Demands Certainty in Wake of Jac Morgan and Dewi Lake Departures
The Ospreys came into the game on the back of a win over the Scarlets in Llanelli, while Cardiff had recovered their poise after losing their ground record to the Scarlets before Christmas by beating the Dragons on Boxing Day.
Wales coaches Steve Tandy, Danny Wilson and Matt Sherratt made the quick dash from Rodney Parade earlier in the day, where they had seen the Dragons beat Scarlets, to watch the game and saw national squad flankers Harri Deaves and Alex Mann go hammer-and-tongs against each other, Adams run in two tries, and Faletau get more minutes under his belt after coming off the bench in the second half.
Ospreys lock Rhys Davies joined forces with Aussie import Ryan Smith to cause all kinds of pain for the Cardiff forwards, but it was the half-backs, Hardy and Edwards who really stole the show.
Shrugging off the effects of the lurgy that had hit the Ospreys camp in the build up to the game, and knowing he was the only recognised scrum half in the matchday 23, Hardy helped himself to two tries and box kicked superbly.
Both he and Edwards benefitted from the dominance of their pack and they rewarded them by keeping the ball in front of them and ensuring the home side always played on the front foot.
Hardy followed up his 74 minute stint against the Scarlets with another 68 before retiring with cramp.
That’s when Keelan Giles came off the wing to deputise and see out the game.
It had been Giles who got the scoreboard moving in the 13th minute with a superb solo effort.
Receiving from Edwards 25 metres out he sped through the gap, sidestepped two defenders and scored in style, Edwards adding the extras.
Cardiff hit back midway through the first half when Adams rounded off a great break by Ben Thomas in midfield to score a try that Callum Sheedy converted to level.
The Ospreys reply came within three minutes as Hardy dived over a ruck on the Cardiff line and Edwards’ conversion made it 12-7 at the break.
Cardiff saw skipper Liam Belcher pick up a yellow card just before the break for lifting Rhys Davies’ leg above the horizontal, but it didn’t cost them any points.
Yet no sooner had he returned than Belcher saw his opposite number Sam Parry run in the third home try.
The conversion made it 19-7 two minutes after the restart and nine minutes later Hardy galloped 30 metres to the posts after spotting a gap as he picked up from the base of a ruck. Now in complete control, the Ospreys conjured up a fifth try in the 69th minute when Iestyn Hopkins raced over and Edwards once again improved.
It looked as though Cardiff would head home with nothing, but they finally woke up in the closing minutes and showed great character to plunder those three late tries.
