Cory Allen scored the game’s only try as Cardiff Blues made amends for their Boxing Day defeat to Newport Gwent Dragons with an 11-9 triumph at Rodney Parade. Allen made amends for Gareth Anscombe’s slow start from the tee, crossing over on the quarter-hour mark after good work from the fly-half. Tom Prydie’s boot edged the Dragons ahead after the break but Anscombe had the final say, knocking over the decisive penalty to deny the home side, who won the reverse fixture 23-17 just six days earlier, a fifth win on the bounce. An impressive start from the hosts saw them burrow into Cardiff territory and when Josh Navidi was caught offside, Prydie opened up a 3-0 lead after three minutes. Prydie then lost concentration for a second, knocking on in his own 22, but the Blues couldn’t capitalise, conceding a penalty at scrum time to relieve the pressure. They did, however, produce a powerful scrum on ten minutes but after the Dragons front row was pinged for standing up, Anscombe sent his kick wide of the uprights. The Blues eventually struck on 16 minutes when Anscombe found Allen in space, the centre selling Matthew Pewtner a dummy and crossing over for the first try. Anscombe’s conversion slipped wide on the right but he was soon in the thick of it again, bursting into the Cardiff half courtesy of a one-two with Gethin Jenkins – though the move came to nothing. And after a quiet half the Blues took a two-point lead into the break, their hosts returning for the second half only marginally behind and now with the wind at their backs. It stayed that way for less than two second-half minutes, Anscombe finally on the board when he sent a drop-goal between the posts amid Cardiff’s penalty advantage to make it 8-3. Prydie hit back from the tee after Filo Paulo was penalised for a shove off the ball, but opted to kick to touch rather than the posts minutes later when the Dragons were awarded a penalty at the halfway line. That took them deep into Cardiff territory and after winning another penalty quick-thinking from Jonathan Evans created an opening, only for the scrum-half to pass behind Hallam Amos with the try line begging. Pewtner then thought he had scored, only for the referee to rule that Rynard Landman has obstructed the defence in the process. Prydie did eventually kick the Dragons ahead with his third penalty but missed the opportunity to stretch that lead from the tee five minutes later. Joaquin Tuculet’s neat offload sent Gavin Evans streaming clear after 65 minutes but with an overlap on the right, the Blues couldn’t capitalise. Anscombe then doubled his tally and edged the visitors back in front with a 40-metre penalty but full-back Tuculet knocked-on a Dragons clearance three minutes from time to put the pressure on. As the clock ticked down, Prydie sent a long-range drop-goal wide and the Blues held on to claim four points and prevent the Dragons from leapfrogging them in the GUINNESS PRO12 table. Follow us on Facebook, join the conversation on Twitter, sign up to our YouTube channel for extensive match highlights and sign up for our newsletter for regular updates on the GUINNESS PRO12
