Dai Young was delighted with Cardiff Blues character as they found a way to win following Owen Lane’s red card against the Dragons.
Cardiff made it 11 in a row against their great rivals from Newport but did it the hard way following an indisciplined encounter.
They were cruising 10-3 at half-time and it should have been more but they lost Lane following a high tackle, while Jason Harries quickly followed with a yellow.
That put Cardiff Blues’ backs to the wall, and in total they conceded 17 penalties, and while frustrated with that indiscipline, Young was pleased with his side’s never say die spirit.
He said: “You have to be pleased with the character and it was certainly a game of two halves. The first 35 minutes, I thought we were excellent but going into half time I was disappointed we didn’t have a bigger lead.
“We bombed one of two tries, there were some kicking inaccuracies and I felt the only way the Dragons were in the game was through our inaccuracies and a little bit of poor discipline.
“We started the second half poorly and gave away a couple of penalties straight away, the Dragons get momentum, get their big carriers in the game and started winning collisions and putting us under pressure.
“Then when you get a red card its backs against the wall. I thought some of our character was outstanding, we had something like 6-7 minutes in our 22 defending but we had a couple of important turnovers because if they got another score it may have been a mountain too high to climb.
“I’m really pleased with the character and the way we found a way to win but disappointed with some of the discipline, which brought the Dragons into the game.
“I thought both red cards were really harsh but that’s the regs and the referee didn’t have much choice and players have to wake up quickly. The rules are there, you have to bend your back and you can’t go high. If you go high you are liable to a sanction.”
Josh Turnbull picked up the Guinness man-of-the-match award following another all action encounter including a key turnover on his own try line, which avoided a knockout blow.
Young has been impressed with the talismanic utility forward and was even happier with the way Cardiff dragged themselves back into the encounter but he insists they still must kick on.
He added: “He’s had a fantastic season and his minutes are right up there so he’s played a big part and a lot of games. He’s robust as well as consistent and good both sides of the ball. He carries strongly, always leads the line in defence and gets the important turnovers. He’s also a leader so I’m really pleased with Josh but also the way we as a team found a way to win.
“The challenge for us is to kick on when we get to the position we were in on 34 minutes. We have to keep going because we were dominant at set-piece time and then second half we lost all the momentum.”