Dai Young was proud of his side as they bowed out of the European Challenge Cup with a narrow defeat to Benetton Rugby.

The Blue and Blacks led mid-way through the second-half thanks to tries from Thomas Young and a stunning solo effort from Mason Grady.

Benetton edged back in front and while Cardiff had opportunities to regain the lead they were unable to snatch the all-important winner.

He said: “We’re disappointed with the loss, but not with the effort. We were under lots of pressure for the first 20 minutes and found a way to stay in the game.

“We scrambled very well and got ourselves right back in it with a couple of scores. We got our noses in front, but it was always going to be a tough ask.

“We knew was going to be a tough place to come and that we’d have to be right on the money for 80 minutes. We weren’t quite as good as last week, but we weren’t too far away.

“It was a game of real fine margins, and we had a couple of opportunities in the last five minutes when we could have sneaked over to make the result different – but we didn’t.

“I’m disappointed for the boys because lots of effort had gone into the game, but it just got away from us. I’m happy with the commitment, effort and some of the rugby we played.

“They’ve enjoyed some fantastic wins over top teams out here and we were in that game right until the last minute. I’m proud of the players.”

Cardiff’s attention will now quickly switch to the BKT United Rugby Championship with a play-off place, European qualification and the Welsh Shield all possible.

They travel to face Connacht in Galway next Saturday before returning to Cardiff to face the Ospreys on Judgement Day.

Young added: “Hopefully we can keep building on the last couple of performances. These are the standards we have set ourselves and I’d like to finish with two big performances, and we’ll see where that takes us.

“It is going to be difficult going to Connacht. We need to tighten up on a few things. We definitely have a lot of build on.”