Ospreys 21 Leeds Carnegie 17: Leeds rally but it is too late to turn it around at Ospreys

A late penalty try from Leeds was not enough to inflict an LV Anglo-Welsh Cup whitewash on the Ospreys at the Liberty Stadium.

The Welsh side seemed to be cruising to victory after tries from Hanno Dirksen, Steve Tandy and Jamie Nutbrown helped them open up a 21-10 lead.

But a late rally saw Leeds earn a converted penalty try in stoppage time and make it a nervous few minutes for the home side, who had lost all their previous three games against Northampton, Bath and Gwent Dragons.

Leeds opened the scoring after 11 minutes with a penalty for

Joe Ford and made it difficult for the Ospreys to get any quick recycled ball at the breakdown.

It took a fine, floated pass from outside-half Gareth Owen out to Dirksen to spark the Ospreys into try-scoring action.

He showed strength and speed to beat the first man and pass out of the tackle to Ashley Beck, who then helped the wing over into the corner. Prydie converted from the touchline to put the home side into a 7-3 lead after 20 minutes.

A second try by Ospreys came after Prydie had watched a 40m penalty attempt rebound off a post. More good work from Dirksen and the lively Nutbrown saw Owen put a grubber kick in for Steve Tandy to slide in.

For the rest of the half, Ospreys were forced to show their defensive skills and did very well to prevent a Leeds try until the final minute of normal time, scored by lock Erik Lund.

The Ospreys enjoyed the better of the exchanges early in the second half but could not turn pressure into points – Prydie missing two penalty attempts in the space of three minutes. But the pressure finally told when Nutbrown dashed from a scrum on the 22 and squeezed over by the posts for a third converted try.

If the Ospreys thought they were cruising to victory they had to think again when prop Ryan Bevington was sin-binned, but while Leeds were awarded a penalty try, it was not enough.

Ospreys: Prydie, Dirksen, Parker, Beck, Vaughton, Owen, Nutbrown, Bevington, Breeze, Mitchell, Lloyd, Evans, Collins, Tandy, Smith. Substitutes: John for Vaughton (72), Webb for Nutbrown (75), Griffiths for Bevington (60), Shervington for Breeze (60), Kelly for Lloyd (69), McInerney for Evans (77), Lewis for Tandy (54). Unused: Taylor.

Leeds Carnegie: Hinton, Wackett, Fa'afili, Barrow, Blackett, Ford, Bedford, Hardy, Titterrell, Bucknall, Lund, Wentzel, Pendlebury, Clark, Oakley. Substitutes: Thomas for Hinton (74), Welding for Wackett (18), Gomarsall for Bedford (58), MacDonald for Hardy (53), Ma'asi for Titterrell (58), Gomez for Bucknall (53), Murphy for Wentzel (69), Myall for Pendlebury (58).

Referee: G Morris (Cardiff).