The Ospreys defeated Border Reivers at the Liberty Stadium tonight. It was a frustrating match for the Ospreys who managed to pull away to win the game in the final 30 minutes.
The Borders came out of the blocks firing with an early penalty from Steve Jones followed straight away by a try from Flanker Kelly Brown, which resulted from poor Ospreys defending. Jones converted the try giving the Borders an early 10 point lead. The Ospreys slowly started to get into the game and put alot of pressure on the Borders for the rest of the half but failed to turn it into points. It wasn't until 35 minutes in, that James Hook managed to put their first points on the board with a penalty. Steve Jones then slotted a penalty of his own just before the break, giving the Borders a 13 points to 3 lead at half time.
The Ospreys came out after the break following a motivational team talk with more purpose and conviction to their game. Stefan Terblanche scored a try after 44 mins thanks to Shaun Connor and Tal Selley's inter-play down the Borders right hand side. James Hook converted brining the score Ospreys 10 Borders 13. With the Ospreys looking to capitalise on their territorial dominance, Justin Marshall, Gavin Henson, Jonathan Thomas and Barry Williams were bought on to add experience and greater fire power. Follwing this, the Ospreys were awarded a penalty, which was converted by Hook after 64 minutes, bringing the scores level. Again the Ospreys attacked the Borders right hand side and again following some good inter-play between the Ospreys backs, Tal Selley went on a strong run breaking two tackles to score a try under the posts. Hook converted giving the Ospreys the lead for the first time in the match. In the last 10 minutes the Ospreys really got on top and sealed the match with a drop goal from Shaun Connor. The icing on the cake for the Ospreys from a strong second half performance was a try from Alun Wyn Jones, which was again converted by Hook.
Final score: Ospreys 30 Border Reivers 13
Attendance: 5,507