Cardiff Blues seal quarter-final spot with 37-21 win over Bristol

Cardiff Blues 37-21 Bristol Rugby, Cardiff Arms Park
Scorecard

Cardiff Blues survived a comeback from Bristol as they won the European Challenge Cup encounter at Cardiff Arms Park by 37-21 to seal a place in the quarter-final.

After the first quarter went without a point from either teams, hooker Kristian Dacey and fly-half Gareth Anscombe scored back-to-back tries in a span of three minutes while centre Steve Shingler added a conversion and a penalty to take them to 15 points.

However, Bristol soon responded back through tries from wing Jordan Williams and centre Jordan Williams while a double conversion from fly-half Adrian Jarvis meant they trailed Cardiff Blues by one point at the end of first half.

Fullback Matthew Morgan extended Cardiff Blues lead to six points when he strolled past the post at the start of the second half but once again Bristol bounced back hard and went on to claim the lead for the first time in the game with a second touchdown in the game from Williams and a conversion from Jarvis.

Shingler brought the home team back into lead with a 58th minute penalty. Just when the game was evenly poised the visitors were hampered by a yellow card to replacement Max Crumpton which was capitalised by Cardiff Blues through tries from Morgan and Sam Warburton to seal a 16-point win.

The win has allowed Cardiff Blues to reach the quarter-final of the tournament along with the table toppers Bath in the group.