Cardiff Blues 15-9 Toulouse
The Blues move to within a point of Toulouse in Pool 5
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By Tom Powell. |  |
Saturday, 12, Dec 2009 05:10
By Tom Powell.
Cardiff Blues held on to see off Toulouse 15-9 in the Heineken Cup and move within a point of the French side in Pool 5.
The contest was far from a classic but the hosts did well to stifle the Toulouse backline and held on for a much-needed victory.
The visitors were lacklustre in attack and had no answer to a stubborn Blues defence but did pick up a losing bonus point that keeps them top of Pool 5.
Blues were dealt a blow when Casey Laulala was ruled out after picking up a hamstring injury so Tom Shanklin came in in his place.
Elsewhere the Blues had Jamie Roberts, Leigh Halfpenny and Andy Powell back in the side after playing for the Barbarians.
For Toulouse David Skrela wasn't fit enough to start so Frederic Michalak deputised at fly-half in a backline that boasted 69 Heineken Cup tries to date.
Both sides were cautious in the first half with the ball spending more time in the air than in the hand but the Blues led 6-0 thanks to two Ben Blair penalties.
The second half followed a similar pattern as Blair kicked two more penalties.
Three-pointers from Michalak, Fritz and Skrela dragged Toulouse back in it before Halfpenny sealed the win with a penalty of his own.
After a scrappy start to the game an infringement at a scrum allowed Ben Blair the opportunity to kick the Blues ahead.
The Blues' top points scorer in the Heineken Cup added three more to his tally to give the hosts an early lead.
Handling errors and aimless kicking exchanges was the theme of the opening 20 minutes as both sides struggled to take control of the game.
In attack both sides were wasteful with possession. The Blues were thrice turned over when in the Toulouse 22 whilst Shaun Sowerby was penalised with Toulouse five metres from the Blues line.
With five minutes of the half remaining the Blues doubled their advantage after Toulouse were penalised at the breakdown.
Blair landed the long-range penalty to give the Welsh side a 6-0 half-time lead.
The home side started the second half brightly and were immediately 9-0 ahead through Blair's third penalty.
A thumping tackle from Roberts on Nicolas Bezy handed the Blues possession and Toulouse were soon penalised for being offside, Blair did the rest.
The visitors had their first sniff of points on 48 minutes as the Blues were penalised at the breakdown. However, Maxime Medard's long-range penalty had the legs but drifted wide.
The miss proved not to matter too much as Florian Fritz made amends a few minutes later.
The centre took over kicking duties and made it 9-3 with 53 minutes gone.
A decent period of pressure from the Blues resulted in Blair's fourth penalty of the afternoon but Michalak hit back with a simple penalty of his own to make it 12-6 with 15 minutes remaining.
Into the last 10 minutes and the Blues looked content to try and hang on to the slender lead but Toulouse had the wind in their sails.
Replacement Skrela set up a tense last eight minutes as he stroked over a drop goal to bring the visitors to within three points.
The Blues were caught entering the ruck from the side with three minutes remaining giving Skrela the opportunity to tie things up.
But his kick from out wide was well off target and the Blues cleared downfield.
With a minute remaining the Blues nerves were calmed when Toulouse went over the top and Halfpenny struck a long-range penalty to seal the win.
The loss is Toulouse's first this campaign but their losing bonus point keeps them top of Pool 5 ahead of next weekend's return fixture.