Blues edge derby clash
Cardiff Blues moved up to third in the Magners League standings on Friday after they held off the Ospreys 27-25.
Last Updated: 31/12/10 5:24pm
Cardiff Blues moved up to third in the Magners League standings on Friday after they held off the Ospreys 27-25 at Cardiff City Stadium.
Scotland fly-half Dan Parks slotted 14 points for the hosts, which proved just enough to quell a second-half comeback from the champions.
Two early Parks penalties put the Blues into the lead and Chris Czekaj then coolly slipped in Tom James for the first try in the corner and an 11-0 lead inside eight minutes.
Dan Biggar soon got Ospreys on the scoreboard but two opportunist drop-goals from Parks had the hosts cruising at 17-3 ahead at half-time.
When Richard Mustoe crossed the whitewash for Parks to convert after the restart, the game looked up for the visitors, but they responded impressively.
Paul James sniped over from close range and Tommy Bowe intercepted an attempted Parks pass a minute later for James Hook to kick the extras and then add a penalty, to cut the lead to 24-18.
Home replacement Ceri Sweeney crucially landed his only penalty for a 27-18 advantage, before Andrew Bishop's converted try two minutes from time set up a grandstand finish.
Cardiff held on for the win, but Ospreys' losing bonus point keeps them just above third-placed Blues in the table.
