Ospreys produced a blistering first-half to beat Cardiff Blues and ensure their return to the top of the GUINNESS PRO12 table.

Steve Tandy’s side have now triumphed in all six of their opening fixtures and have avoided defeat at the hands of a fellow Welsh region since the head coach took charge at the start of 2012.

Dan Biggar kicked 16 points with Dan Evans and the stellar Rhys Webb crossing for the hosts as Cardiff struggled to find any momentum at the Liberty Stadium.

And, despite two late tries for the Blues through replacements Lloyd Williams and Kristian Dacey, Ospreys never looked like they were in any danger of relinquishing their 100 per cent start to the season.

It didn’t take long for Ospreys to take the lead with Biggar kicking an early penalty after the Blues were penalised for not rolling away.

And Biggar would add three more penalties – including his 1600th point for the region – as he stretched Ospreys’ lead to 12-0 after Sam Warburton was sent to the bin on 20 minutes.

The Blues eventually got on the board with a penalty of their own – Rhys Patchell with the long-range kick.

However, it was anything but a fightback as Evans fought off the attentions of Adam Thomas and Alex Cuthbert to score the first try of the afternoon – Biggar duly converting.

And it was more of the same in the second-half with Ospreys putting the Blues under immediate pressure.

Evans was on hand to field a sliced Patchell clearance and find the left corner with an intelligent kick.

Ospreys were looking to make a real statement and the resultant line-out saw Warburton penalised but Biggar opted to kick to the corner instead of adding an easy three.

The Blues were struggling to find any momentum and they were eventually opened up by Jeff Hassler who broke away but was stopped an inch short of the line.

However, Webb was on hand to score his fifth try of the season after having the awareness to quickly ground the ball on the line and Biggar easily converted for another two.

The visitors finally mounted an attack after 17 minutes of the second half and looked to be making progress until a sloppy turnover put an end to their best passage of play.

And they were nearly punished moments later when Hassler glided through the Blues defence and found Andrew Bishop who should have been in under the posts, but took his eye off the ball and was unable to take advantage of the opportunity.

The Blues finally started to put phases together but it was too little too late and they were undone by their own sloppiness after Gareth Davies’ poor kick.

Ospreys were still pushing hard for another try and their pack drove agonisingly close to the line but was unable to cross over.

But, against the run of play, it was Cardiff who were the next to score as Thomas produced a strong break and put Williams through with a one-handed offload and he crashed over.

And with Morgan Allen yellow carded late on for repeated infringements, Cardiff pressed for another try which they managed to secure through Dacey – Patchell making the conversion.

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