John Mulvihill was delighted with his side’s grit and determination as they battled to their first Guinness PRO14 victory away to Ospreys since 2005.
The boot of Jason Tovey slotted the match-winning penalty to complete a comeback and claim a win in the first festive derby of the campaign.
The Australian was also pleased with the performance of his back row, including Guinness Man of the Match, Shane Lewis-Hughes.
“I thought it was a game that we probably could’ve played a little bit better, but it just shows the character of the team, when you’re down to 13 for that long and the other team don’t score many points,” said the head coach.
“They hung on together, and it’s definitely a squad game. The boys who came on made big improvements as well and we kept that pressure on.
“You always come down here and one thing I admire about the Ospreys is that they never go away. They always hang in, regardless of what’s going on around the place.
“They always give you a tough game, and that’s what we’ve found. We were just happy to come away with the win tonight.
“From all the history of coming down here and not getting the right results, we just needed a positive and upbeat week, and that’s what we had.
“We did things slightly different today. We met at the Vale, had some food up there and did our walk through at the WRU’s Centre of Excellence before jumping on the bus.
“The attitude was on as soon as the bus doors opened outside the stadium and that’s why it was.
“The boys in the back row were playing against some big boys with good reputation.
“It was great for Shane to be man-of-the-match, and Boydey to have such an impact alongside Josh Turnbull, who can play front or back and gives everything each week.
“You also have the luxury of brining Olly Robinson on, as well as having boys like Josh Navidi, Nick Williams and Ellis Jenkins, who will all eventually be back with us.”
Focus now turns to the Boxing Day blockbuster against Dragons, who snatched a dramatic victory of their own against Scarlets earlier today.
Mulvihill is excited for his first Boxing Day derby and is anticipating a fiery atmosphere for the encounter.
He added: “It will be fantastic. Through Cardiff Council, we’re allowed to sell another 600 tickets. We’ve released those to the public and they’re going fairly quickly.
“Let’s hope we can get them gone, and have a massive crowd down there.
“Dragons have played some good rugby this year, and if you give penalties away then Sam Davies will kick to the corner, or kick his three points.
“They have an exciting back row, but Navs will probably get some game time next week, and Shane will be up against Aaron Wainwright, so he’ll be up for it and probably won’t have any sleep.
“I haven’t been to a Boxing Day derby at Cardiff Arms Park, but we had some big crowds last year and the place was bouncing.
“Hopefully it will be sold out, we’ll have a nice day and it’ll be brilliant. We’ll look to play quick rugby, which should make for a good game because Dragons also like to play quite fast.”
Only a limited amount of tickets are still available for Cardiff Blues' blockbuster Boxing Day derby against Dragons at Cardiff Arms Park. Make sure you grab yours NOW before they sell-out!