Holley delighted just to win

Ospreys coach Sean Holley admitted he was satisfied with his side's 15-9 victory over Perpignan which gave them their first victory in Heineken Cup Pool Three.

Ospreys coach Sean Holley admitted he was satisfied with his side's 15-9 victory over Perpignan which gave them their first victory in Heineken Cup Pool Three.

The win came despite the Welsh region failing to score a try in their last two matches – they lost 12-6 at Leicester last week – and allowing Perpignan a losing bonus point at the Liberty Stadium.

Holley was keen to stress the Ospreys went into the match with a host of injuries which forced them to play Wales U20 pair Dan Biggar, who kicked five penalties, and Rhys Webb at half-back, and lift a two-match ban on Gavin Henson, who was disciplined for missing a training session.

“The dominant emotion in the dressing room is satisfaction. There is a little bit of relief,” said Holley.

“We have played a top French side here. We came in this morning and we had nine registered backs standing and that included one (Gavin Henson) who was suspended.

“So we had to use him (Henson) in our 22.

“There were some huge individual performances out there and collectively. I don't know what people expect but that was a bloody good win for us. We did everything apart from score a try.”

Holley was particularly praiseworthy about full-back Lee Byrne.

“I thought we saw a British Lions full-back there today. He owns his own half at the Liberty Stadium and is secure under the high ball. He hits the line hard and his kicking is well balanced,” he said.

“It's all to play for. I think we are all going to take points off each other and it's going down to the wire.”

Perpignan prop Perry Freshwater blamed his side's indiscipline for the defeat after three players – Adrien Plante, Jean-Pierre Perez and Guillaume Vilaceca were all sin-binned.

“We need to adapt to the referees in Europe. There is no doubting our heart and ambition but we have just got to look at our discipline,” said the former England prop.

“We played a lot of the game with 13 or 14 men and we need to adapt to certain situations.

“We don't get penalised for things at home we get penalised for here. There comes a time when we stop learning and put these things into practice.

“But we are proud. Not many sides go toe-to-toe with the Ospreys at home and come away with a bonus point. We wanted to win the game, but we didn't because of our discipline.”