Fab five from Shingler lets Blues keep on hoping
HEAD coach Danny Wilson hailed his Cardiff Blues match-winner Steven Shingler after a faultless kicking display kept their European Challenge Cup hopes alive.
The outside-half kicked the last of his five penalties right at the death to snatch triumph in Pau.
Some weak defence allowed Pau to run in tries through Louis Dupichot, Julien Tomas and Pierre Dupouy.
Willis Halaholo’s solo score in the second-period kept them very much in the contest, before Shingler earned the narrow victory which keeps the Blues just one point behind Bath at the top of Pool 2, knowing a win against Bristol next week will book their place in the last eight.
“Steve has been outstanding since he arrived at the region,” said Wilson. “His goal-kicking and versatility were the reasons we brought him in and he showed his real quality tonight.
“We can put all our concentration on Bristol now, but we know they will want to deliver a big performance after their defeat against Bath.”
Shingler ensured the Blues’ French mission started with points, as he landed a penalty to give the Welsh region a 3-0 lead after two minutes.
But Pau soon stamped their mark on the match. Irish back-row Paddy Butler sliced through the defensive line before the ball was recycled to right wing Dupichot, who raced over in the corner.
A second Shingler penalty cut the gap to a single point, but Pau scrum-half Tomas burrowed over from close range for a second converted try to give the Blues an eight-point gap to overturn at half-time.
Shingler maintained his 100 per cent record to pull his men back four minutes into the secondhalf.
And the turnaround was complete six minutes later when Halaholo spotted an overlap and switched to the short-side.
He received the ball from Tomos Williams and jinked home with Shingler converting for a 16-14 lead.
Shingler added his fourth penalty moments later, but outside-centre Dupouy strolled over after a spell of heavy pressure, and Fajardo converted to edge the home side 21-19 ahead.
But Shingler kicked a fifth penalty to steal an unlikely victory at the death to keep their lasteight hopes alive.