Ospreys bag a bonus
The Ospreys scored five tries to record a comfortable 38-6 bonus-point victory over Aironi at the Liberty Stadium.
Last Updated: 25/09/10 9:13pm
The Ospreys eased to a 38-6 bonus-point victory in a one-sided Magners League encounter against Aironi at the Liberty Stadium.
The Welsh region ended up scoring five tries to nil on home soil, though they did not grab the crucial fourth score until 15 minutes from the end.
Twice they were awarded penalty tries as the brave visiting pack simply buckled under the pressure put on by the Ospreys' powerful pack.
Winger Richard Fussell, full-back Lee Byrne and centre Tommy Bowe also crossed for the hosts, who move up to fifth in the table with the win.
Mistakes
The game was over as a contest by half time as the Ospreys led 24-6. It could have been an even greater margin at the break but on many occasions mistakes cost them the chance to pile on further points.
They opened the scoring as early as the seventh minute when captain Alun Wyn Jones won a line-out to lead to Fussell diving over.
Fly-half Dan Biggar put over a penalty on 18 minutes but that was immediately cancelled out by his opposite number Riccardo Bocchino.
However Aironi suffered a blow when flanker Josh Sole was shown a yellow card for tackling New Zealander Jerry Collins off the ball.
With the bonus of a man extra up front, the Ospreys were awarded a penalty try after the Italian side were penalised three times at a five-metre scrum.
Bocchino closed the gap briefly with a penalty goal from near the halfway line but the Ospreys finished the half with a flourish thanks to a converted try from Byrne, who was set up by Shane Williams.
Frustrated
Back to full strength, Aironi frustrated their hosts for the first 25 minutes of the second half.
But the sin-binning of former Italy captain Marco Bortolami gifted the Ospreys a penalty try - which also secured the added bonus of an extra point.
A break up the middle by number eight Jonathan Thomas set up Bowe to grab a fifth score, replacement Gareth Owen knocking over the conversion having come on for Bigger, who had booted 11 points before going off.
The only blow for the Ospreys was flanker Ben Lewis suffering a serious-looking neck injury in the first half. He was taken from the field by stretcher.
