RaboDirect Pro12: Cardiff Blues and Treviso play out draw at Stadio Monigo
A late penalty from Gareth Davies earned Cardiff Blues a hard-fought 26-26 Pro12 draw with Treviso at Stadio Monigo.
Last Updated: 30/11/13 6:58pm
Cardiff took a 20-9 lead into the break thanks to tries from Chris Czekaj and Robin Copeland, along with the accurate boot of Davies, while Mat Berquist responded with three penalties for Treviso.
Alessandro Zanni and Edoardo Gori crossed in the second period for the hosts as the Italian side went ahead, before Davies levelled matters with a penalty.
Although Berquist regained the hosts' advantage after 68 minutes, a late three-pointer from Cardiff's fly-half secured a draw.
The Blues were without their internationals for this encounter, but they still managed to dominate the first half. Although Berquist opened the scoring with a penalty, Czekaj touched down to give the visitors the lead.
Treviso's stand-off reduced the arrears with his second from the tee before Davies kicked two of his own as Cardiff took a 13-6 advantage after 17 minutes.
Benetton were struggling to open up an impressive Blues rearguard and, although Berquist kicked another three-pointer, Copeland went over to extend the Blues' lead at half-time.
But the Italian outfit upped the intensity in the second period and were rewarded when Zanni crossed the whitewash. Gori then touched down as Treviso dramatically turned the game on its head.
However, it wasn't over and Davies levelled the scores at 23-23 with a quarter of the game to go.
Berquist appeared to have won the match for the hosts before Cardiff's fly-half rescued two points with a 77th minute penalty.
