Ospreys, Blues settle for draw at Swansea – Rugby news
Ospreys have not yet recovered from the Edinburgh defeat, when Cardiff Blues gave them another scare that recovered from 9-point deficit and draw the match in the end.
Ospreys entered the match as favourites at the start of the match at Swansea, however they will be happy to get 2 points from 21 – 21 draw with the Cardiff Blues.
The game was similar to Munster Vs Leinster encounter in which the Fly Halves of the opposite team did most of the scoring. Ospreys now placed at the 3rd place with draw points inching them ahead of the Leinster, who suffer a lost from Munster due to last
minute penalty of the O’Gara.
Ospreys started the game as favourites and were controlling the game until the first 21 minutes of the match. Ospreys was first to score the points courtesy of their Fly Half Dan Biggar’s fourth minute penalty.
Ospreys were very clinical in their approach towards the game and gave nothing away, whether they were defending or attacking. Particularly their game in the set pieces and scrums was exceptional and allowed them to create the scoring opportunities on which
Dan Biggar capitalized. Biggar scored his second penalty in the 17thminute followed by another penalty in the 19th minute to take the score to 9 - 0. Trailing by 9 points, Blues started to focus themselves and enjoyed good ball possession, with ball taken
to the Ospreys half with purpose.
This lead Blues to put their first points on board through their Fly Half Dan Parks first Drop Goal of the match coming in the 27th minute. Minutes later, Blues manoeuvred another move that allowed the Parks to score his first penalty in the game to reduce
the lead by 3 points. Ospreys replied with Biggar’s fourth penalty of the game before Parks strike his second penalty during the 39th minute. In the last minute of the first half, Ospreys advanced towards the Blues territory that allowed the Biggar to score
his first drop goal for Ospreys to end the half with scorecard reading 15 – 9 favouring Ospreys.
Ospreys Centre James Hook scored their second drop goal to extend the lead by 9 points in the first minute of second half. With Ospreys defending exceptionally, Blues had an uphill task to reduce the deficit however; they did manage to get their attack
together, regained the ball possession, and enjoyed some territory possession.
This allowed blues to score 6 points in space of six minutes with their Fly Half scoring penalties in the 45th and 51st minute penalty awarded after their No. 8 was shown the yellow card. Biggar scored 5th penalty of the game in the 56th minute to extend
the Ospreys lead in the 51st minute. These are last Ospreys points scored in the night. Blues capitalized on Ospreys who are playing with one player less and during the passage they were able to level the score for the first time in the match. Damage again
was by Cardiff Blues Fly Half Parks who scored a penalty in the 59thminute followed by his second drop goal in the 67th minute.
In the remaining passage of the game both teams try their best to score and made mistakes but none of the team was able to capitalize. The final scorecard read 21 – all giving both teams’ two points each. Cardiff Blues with their 52 points in 18 matches
have more games to play before the end of the round matches, while the rest of the Top six teams have already played 19 games each. This leaves Blues with a better chance to ensure their place with the Munster in the play offs of the Magners League 2010/11.
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