Cardiff held on for the win against a relentless Lions

Cardiff gave their hopes of reaching the URC play-offs a massive boost as they defeated top eight rivals the Lions in a tense encounter at the Arms Park.

There was a nail-biting finale as the visitors from Johannesburg pressed for the winning score, but Matt Sherratt’s team held firm to move up to fifth in the table.

So, in the end, it was Harri Millard’s 60-metre interception try 15 minutes from time that proved the match-winner, with the winger having added to Ben Donnell’s first half touchdown, while Callum Sheedy slotted four shots at goal.

It was a big night for second row Seb Davies who made his 150th appearance for the club, while there were returns for Wales squad members Teddy Williams, James Botham, Keiron Assiratti and Ellis Bevan who were all among the replacements along with the fit-again Corey Domachowki amid a 6-2 split on the bench.

Meanwhile, the Lions were also boosted by three key players making their comebacks, with full-back Quan Horn, flanker Ruan Venter and centre Henco van Wyk all recovered from injury.

There were just two points between the teams going into the match, with Cardiff in sixth place in the URC table and the visitors from Johannesburg down in eighth.

So this was a crucial encounter in terms of the battle to make the end of season play-offs.

When the game got underway in front of an Arms Park crowd of 6,235, it was the Lions who opened the scoring after a period of early pressure with their 23st prop Asenathi Ntlabakanye the try scorer.

A quick tap penalty from Nico Steyn saw the scrum-half brought down just short of the line and tight-head Ntlabakanye was on hand to plough over with Gianni Lombard adding the conversion.

Following this initial setback, Cardiff came more into the game and responded with a try of their own on 21 minutes.

The attacking position was set up through a penalty earned by a tackle from one of the smallest men on the field – Johan Mulder – on the heaviest, Ntlabakanye.

Despite the physical mismatch, scrum-half Mulder knocked the giant prop backwards, which would have been a sweet moment for the South African against his former team.

The resulting penalty was kicked deep into the 22 by Sheedy and then it was over to Ben Donnell to start and finish the scoring move.

It was from his lineout leap at the tail that the ball was moved into midfield for centrre Rey Lee Lo to put in a strong carry, with No 8 Alun Lawrence following up by surging right to the whitewash.

Then it was about the clinical finish and that was delivered as Mulder passed behind decoy Alex Mann to Donnell who was not to be denied from close range.

Sheedy slotted the conversion from wide out and then added a 40 metre-plus penalty to put the hosts in front.

It looked as though the Lions had reclaimed the lead when Steyn went over just before the break.

But after a clamour from the crowd on seeing the replay, Italian referee Federico Vedovelli opted for a video review which confirmed there had been a forward pass from JC Pretorius to Marius Louw in the build-up.

So the try was disallowed which meant Cardiff took a 10-7 lead into the break.

Soon after the resumption, Lombard levelled the scores with a penalty which was followed by the hosts bringing on international front five forwards Domachowski, Assiratti and Teddy Williams.

Fly-half Sheedy kicked his team back in front only for the momentum to swing again as Lions skipper Francke Horn forced his way over for a converted try after a series of close range carries.

Cardiff reacted by introducing Botham and Thomas Young into the back row as the game moved into the final quarter.

Then came the key Millard moment. With the Lions on the attack, the winger intercepted a pass from centre Louw on his own 10 metre line and pinned his ears back.

The cover closed in on him, but he had the gas to reach the line, riding the tackle of Quan Horn as he slid over in the corner, with Sheedy again converting from wide out.

Seven minutes from time, the Lions were reduced to 14 men when fly-half Lombard was yellow carded for a deliberate knock on.

There was then late drama as the referee checked to see if the visitors had scored a try, but the replay showed they had fallen just short, while the very final play ended with them being held up over the line as Cardiff stayed firm to claim a crucial victory.