Pro12: Cardiff Blues 28-8 NG Dragons

Cardiff Blues retained their hopes of European Champions Cup qualification with a hard-fought win over Newport Gwent Dragons.

Danny Wilson's side rose above Ospreys to eighth in the Pro12 table, one point below sixth-placed Edinburgh and Munster in seventh.

Josh Turnbull, Rey Lee-Lo and Gareth Anscombe went over for the hosts.

Dragons battled throughout with Sarel Pretorius' try and Dorian Jones' penalty their reward.

Rhys Patchell was playing his last game at the Arms Park before joining Scarlets in a Blues team showing two changes from the 28-22 win in Llanelli.

Blues hooker Kristian Dacey is held

Kristian Dacey replaced Matthew Rees at hooker with Jarrad Heota taking over from Turnbull in the second row.

Dragons were unchanged from their 23-21 win at Gloucester in the European Challenge Cup, but will travel to Montpellier in next Saturday's semi-final on the back of a Welsh derby defeat.

While Dragons were in action, Montpellier won 26-20 in the French Top 14 at Stade Francais.

A player with west Wales roots helped ensure the east Wales contest went Blues' way.

Having moved to number eight, Turnbull underlined his value to Blues this season by bursting past Taulupe Faletau's challenge to go over from close range.

Anscombe added a penalty to that opening try before Jones put Dragons on the scoreboard with his reply.

After Anscombe's second penalty the visitors had chances with Hallam Amos and Pretorius to the fore in attack.

Amos fluffed one chance when he went for the line instead of using an overlap, but Pretorius pounced at the base of a scrum.

Pretorius' yellow card for a deliberate knock-on while attempting to intercept looked harsh to some.

In his absence, man-of-the-match Anscombe's perfectly-weighted chip gave Lee-Lo the chance to gather and score.

Anscombe converted to give the hosts a 10-point half-time lead and added his final penalty as Blues tightened their grip on the game.

However, Blues were as guilty as the visitors of wasting chances.

When Anscombe went over to finish the final move of the game, Blues were already rueing missing the opportunities that could have led to a bonus-point win that would have sent them sixth in the table.

Cardiff Blues: Rhys Patchell; Dan Fish, Garyn Smith, Rey Lee-Lo, Tom James; Gareth Anscombe, Lloyd Williams; Gethin Jenkins (capt), Kristian Dacey, Taufa'ao Filise, Jarrad Hoeata, James Down, Ellis Jenkins, Sam Warburton, Josh Turnbull

Replacements: Matthew Rees, Brad Thyer, Dillon Lewis, Manoa Vosawai, Josh Navidi, Tomos Williams, Harri Millard, Aled Summerhill

Newport Gwent Dragons: Carl Meyer; Adam Hughes, Tyler Morgan, Adam Warren, Hallam Amos; Dorian Jones, Sarel Pretorius; Phil Price, Elliot Dee, Brok Harris, Rynard Landman, Nick Crosswell, Lewis Evans (capt), Nic Cudd, Taulupe Faletau.

Replacements: Rhys Buckley, Boris Stankovich, Lloyd Fairbrother, Matthew Screech, Ed Jackson, Charlie Davies, Angus O'Brien, Geraint Rhys Jones.

Referee: Peter Fitzgibbon (Ireland)

Assistant Referees: Leighton Hodges, Gwyn Morris (both Wales)

Citing Commissioner: Jeff Mark (Wales)

TMO: Gareth Simmonds (Wales)