Leicester Tigers 32-32 Ospreys
Tigers flanker Tom Croft is tackled by Mike Phillips as the Ospreys are held to a 32-32 draw
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By Darren Estwick. |  |
Sunday, 11, Oct 2009 02:33
By Tom Powell.
Billy Twelvetrees' late conversion earned Leicester Tigers a 32-32 draw against the Ospreys in the Heineken Cup.
The Ospreys defence looked to have earned the victory but a late Jeremy Staunton try gave Twelvetrees the opportunity to snatch a draw.
Both sides crossed for two tries in the first half but the boot of Dan Biggar was the difference with the Ospreys fly-half kicking 13 points to give his side a 26-15 lead.
The Tigers came out all guns blazing in the second half and a late Staunton try and Twelvetrees conversion earned them a deserved draw.
The Tigers were straight out of the blocks and 5-0 up with just two minutes on the clock.
Centre Anthony Allen ghosting through a hole in the Ospreys defence before finding Scott Hamilton who fed Johne Murphy for a simple try.
Staunton was off target with his conversion attempt and fell short again with a penalty kick two minutes later.
The Ospreys were struggling to cope with the Tigers ferocity and were soon 8-0 behind. Staunton landing a penalty after the Ospreys collapsed a scrum on the 22.
Biggar got his side on the scoresheet by landing a 50 metre penalty but the Ospreys were being let off the hook by Staunton who missed his third kick of the match a minute later.
Biggar was less careless with the boot and reduced the arrears to two points with his second penalty on 21 minutes and a minute later the Ospreys crossed for their first score of the match.
A knock-on from Jordan Crane gifted possession to the Ospreys back line with Biggar cutting through and finding Shane Williams who finished with ease. Biggar's conversion making it 13-8.
Suddenly the Ospreys could do no wrong and Biggar stretched the lead to eight points with a 35 metre drop goal after Lucas Amorosino lost possession for the Tigers.
After such a strong start Leicester were in total disarray and trailed 23-8 with nine minutes to go before the break.
Staunton throwing a wild long pass that was plucked out of the air by Irishman Tommy Bowe who strolled in under the posts uncontested.
Biggar added the extras and added three more from in front of the posts when Staunton failed to release the ball.
The Welford Road crowd's despair was somewhat eased moments later when Allen's superb offload found Twelvetrees who battled his way to the line to get his side back into the match.
Part-time kicker Twelvetrees took over the kicking duties and turned five points into seven to make the score 26-15 at the break.
The Ospreys were straight back on the front foot at the start of the second half with Biggar adding another penalty after Crane was penalised for going over the top of a ruck.
It really was game on though with 47 minutes gone when Scott Hamilton broke through and offloaded to Amorisono to go over in the corner. Twelvetrees' second conversion made it 29-22.
The momentum was with the Tigers but they were struggling to break down the Ospreys defence with time running out.
A penalty on the half-way line gave Biggar the opportunity to stretch the lead to ten which he gratefully took only for Twelvetrees to hit back with a penalty two minutes later.
With three minutes to go their pressure finally paid off. Twelvetrees providing the platform from which Staunton skipped through a gap and touched down to set up a nail biting finish.
With Welford Road plunged into a deafening silence Twelvetrees steadied his nerves to land the conversion that brought the scores level at 32-32.
The late try earned the hosts a bonus point but they couldn't quite grab the victory as Alain Rolland called time on another remarkable Tigers Ospreys encounter.