Ospreys come from behind

Ospreys came from behind to score a 15-9 Heineken Cup victory against Perpignan in their Pool Three match at the Liberty Stadium.

The result sees the Magners League side go level on five points alongside their French opponents, with Leicester four points clear following their 60-16 thrashing of Treviso.

The fact a result was achieved at all was a definite boon, with both sides failing to offer little in the way of an entertaining performance.

All the points came courtesy of penalties, with 18-year-old Daniel Biggar on target for a depleted Ospreys side which had suffered the late withdrawal of James Hook with a back spasm.

Jonny Vaughton came in on the wing and the presence of the out-of-favour Gavin Henson further emphasised their injury woes - the centre making a non-playing appearance on the bench.

Arguably needing a win, Ospreys looked nervous, lacked cohesion and soon went behind.

However, they were let back into the match by a cynical Perpignan side who had three players sin-binned and who also gave away countless penalties.

Ospreys went 3-0 down in the third minute after Shane Williams knocked on and Alun Wyn-Jones then conceded a penalty in front of the posts, converted by Jerome Porical.

The French side immediately started to put together a number of phases while, in contrast, the home side opted for the tactic of territorial gain.

Perpignan suffered a potential setback after 10 minutes when starting fly-half David Mele departed the field with a pulled stomach muscle.

However, replacement Nicolas Durand settled in quickly and Perpignan doubled their advantage in the 19th minute when Porical kicked another penalty - a more difficult effort from the right-hand touchline.

The visitors were soon penalised for not rolling away, with Biggar giving himself a confidence boost by converting a penalty the equal of Porical's.

Biggar could have levelled when Perpignan were adjudged offside two minutes later but, faced with a long-range effort, his attempt sailed past the right-hand post.

Boost

Still, Ospreys were at least moving the ball now and they received a boost when opposing winger Adrien Plante was sin-binned after 25 minutes for a dangerous tackle on Lee Byrne as the full-back tried to deal with a high kick.

Tommy Bowe almost touched down after running on to a grubber kick, but the back-tracking Durand beat him to it.

Nevertheless, Perpignan's indiscipline resulted in another Ospreys penalty and, via the right-hand upright, Biggar levelled the match just short of the half-hour.

The French side regained the lead just past the half-hour when Porical kicked a penalty after Rhys Webb was adjudged offside - Paul James' two-punch flattening of opposing forward Marius Tincu having been missed by the referee.

Ospreys tried to make the most of their man advantage, which was doubled when back-row forward Jean-Pierre Perez briefly joined Plante.

With Plante back on the field, his team-mates conceded their ninth penalty, this time for not releasing, and Ospreys went for the line.

But instead of feeding a gaping overlap, their forwards went for glory and only succeeded in conceding a penalty on Perpignan's line.

Biggar's fluffed kick-off at the started of the second half symbolised Ospreys' lack of confidence and yet a missed Porical penalty in the 43rd minute kept the deficit down.

Ian Evans ignited proceedings with a break in the 48th minute and when the move was progressed by Huw Bennett, Ospreys were faced with a three-on-one and should probably have scored.

Webb then touched down following a line-out which stemmed from Perpignan's clearance. However, the try was ruled out after the jumping Wyn-Jones parried the ball forward to the scrum-half.

With the prospect of a rare home defeat looming large, Ospreys continued to press forward but despite some 15 minutes spent camped in the Perpignan half, Biggar's 56th-minute penalty was their sole reward.

At least the scores were now level but, as the hour came and went, neither side appeared to have much of a clue as to how they might rectify that.

Fumble

An attempted drop goal from Biggar sailed wide, while Plante fumbled the ball after receiving a looping pass from the breaking Christoph Manas.

Ospreys broke the deadlock when Biggar kicked another penalty in the 66th minute and gained an advantage with eight minutes remaining when replacement Guillaume Vilaceca was sin-binned.

Biggar converted the subsequent penalty, with the final minutes seeing Perpignan press forward to try and snatch a late result.

Chris Cusiter was their spur, the Scottish scrum-half breaking forward and although Viliani Vaki crossed in the corner, he was in receipt of a forward pass.