OSPREYS PAY PRICE AS TOVEY DELIVERS
CARDIFF Blues bounced back from a heavy defeat to the Scarlets to end the season on a positive note with victory at their temporary home of Rodney Parade.
Coach John Mulvihill had made 13 changes after the 32-12 thumping in Llanelli and it paid off against an Ospreys team whose indiscipline and error count cost them dear.
Wales star Josh Adams had been one of the few pluses for the Blues last weekend, and he was outstanding once again.
He scored one try and set up another for fellow wing Jason Harries, while man of the match Jason Tovey kicked 19 points from fly-half.
Full-back Dan Evans touched down for the Ospreys to make it 1713 at the interval, but a rising penalty count saw the game slip from their grasp after the break.
The repeat offending culminated in a yellow card for flanker Olly Cracknell, and Tovey just kept on punishing the indiscretions.
Playing on familiar turf, the former Dragons playmaker was immaculate off the kicking tee, landing seven out of seven shots at goal, a haul which included two fine touchline conversions.
The Ospreys did have the last word, with wing Luke Morgan crossing in the final play, but it was very much a case of too little, too late for the visitors.
It means they end a difficult season with just two wins from their 15 Guinness PRO14 matches to finish bottom of Conference A.
For the Blues, it was a seventh league victory and they will be pretty pleased with the way they performed.
They struggled in the scrum early on, but they sorted that area out and generally got on top up front, with Tovey keeping them in the right areas of the pitch.
Out wide, they had the cutting edge of wings Adams and Harries, who set up tries for each other, and their back row of Josh Navidi, Shane Lewis-Hughes and the excellent James Botham went really well.
Blues fly-half Tovey told Premier Sports: “We ran with conviction and took our opportunities when they came which was our aim this week.
“It was weird without a crowd, but I’ve been at this ground for 10-11 years and know every blade of it.”
CARDIFF BLUES: M. Morgan; J. Harries, G. Smith, M. Llewellyn, J. Adams; J. Tovey, L. Williams; C.
Domachowski, L. Belcher, D. Arhip, S. Davies, J. Turnbull, S. Lewis-Hughes, J. Navidi (capt), J. Botham. Reps: E. Lewis, B. Thyer, S. Andrews, J. Ratti, S. Moore, L. Jones, B. Thomas, I. Thomas.
OSPREYS:
D. Evans; D. Cross,
O. Watkin, T. Thomas-Wheeler, L. Morgan; S. Myler, R. Webb; R. Jones, S. Otten, T. Botha, B. Davies, A. W. Jones, O. Cracknell, G. Evans, J. Tipuric (capt). Reps: D. Lake, N. Smith, N. Thomas, A. Beard, M. Morris, R. Morgan-Williams, M. Protheroe, K. Williams.