The Ospreys’ end-of-season hopes of climbing the Rugby United Championship table were dashed when a botched conversion denied them victory over Benetton at Swansea.com Stadium.

Looking to bounce back from a 58-3 defeat against Munster, Toby Booth’s side struggled for most of the night, losing 21-8 in the closing stages despite an early scorer from Luke Morgan.

However, late tries from Sam Parry and Reuben Morgan-Williams gave them the feeling of a win that would have increased their chances of beating Cardiff in the Welsh Shield, only for the conversion to go wide and hit the post.

Buoyed by the release of Six Nations team members Keiran Williams and Rhys Davies, the Ospreys got off to a good start. After some good work from his pack, it was winger Morgan who stepped into position after the Ospreys’ backline easily opened up the Italians’ defense with a flurry of passes in the space of seven minutes.

That would be as good as it was for a while. The Italians soon took the lead after Ignacio Mendy scored with a forward pass. When Steven Myler failed to get a ball up and down from Rayno Smith, Giovanni Pettinelli, who was on the wing, hit the ball ahead and slid it onto the grass to beat Owen Watkin and Iastin Hopkins to recover the ball.

Before any of the Ospreys players could react to Pettinelli’s actions, he had already launched his charge from the ground to cross Joaquín Riera for support, setting him up for Benetton’s first try.

Myler briefly put the Ospreys back in front but Jacob Umaga’s kick not only restored Benetton’s lead but extended it.

Umaga extended their lead after the break before Ospreys problems multiplied after Harry Deaves was benched. The visitors capitalized moments later with a quicker shot to send Marcus Watson into the corner.

Persistent Williams center and Wales Under-20 full-back Hopkins remained a threat, but the Swansea side lacked composure in key situations, with frantic volleys and free passes highlighting promising positions.

With 15 minutes to go, both were sent off, with Williams slightly upset, which will put his participation in the remaining two Six Nations events in doubt.

Their winning hopes may have been dashed by the pair, but with seven minutes to go, a powerful attack took Parry ahead to cut the deficit to just six points.

Then, as the clock turned red, the Ospreys pressed hard for the winning score. After an attack on the line which lasted around 30 furlongs and resulted in several penalties, Jack Walsh headed Morgan-Williams in to score from a corner.

However, Walsh’s conversion agonizingly hit the post to give Benetton the win.

Source: Wales Online