Cardiff’s European hopes were ended in a dramatic 38-35 defeat to Benetton in Italy, with their comeback falling agonisingly short.

Having trailed by 21 points after 14 minutes, they rallied and nearly booked their place in the quarter-finals at the death – only for the chance of a winning try to go begging.

Two tries from Jacob Beetham – his first for the club – as well as scores from Liam Belcher and Alun Lawrence had given them hope, but the club now turn their attention back to reaching the URC play-offs.

The Blue and Blacks conceded their first try after just seven seconds, with Tomasso Menoncello capitalising on an error to score after Cardiff failed to gather the kick-off.

Their second came after four minutes when Jacob Umaga sliced through the score.

The Welsh side fought back, with captain Belcher forcing his way over after some industrious carries from the Cardiff pack.

However, things would soon get worse.

Prop Thomas Gallo powered over from close range, before Umaga scored his second after the home side ran the kick-off back.

One-cap Wales international Beetham powered over for Cardiff’s second, only for Benetton to move further ahead after Onisi Ratave crossed out wide.

Cardiff did at least end the half on a high. After Mason Grady and Ioan Lloyd went close, Alun Lawrence rumbled over on the stroke of half-time.

There was another poor start to the second-half, with Menoncello running over the top of Callum Sheedy to score.

However, Cardiff continued to work hard. Sheedy put Lawrence through a gap – with the No. 8 finding Bevan to score.

A late no-arm hit on Lawrence in the build-up saw Umaga sin-binned.

That yellow card proved crucial, with Cardiff scoring again while Benetton were down to 14 men.

As the home side looked to run from deep, Beetham picked off Andy Uren’s pass for his second try.

That reduced the gap to three points.

Cardiff pushed for a winning score, with Rhys Barratt held up over the line four minutes from time.

They continued to hammer away at the Benetton line until the death, but Alex Mann’s effort was just inches short of the line.

The match ended in controversial fashion, with referee Kevin Bralley unwilling to check whether Cardiff had indeed grounded the ball for a winning score – instead penalising Cardiff captain Ben Thomas for arguing his point.

Benetton: Rhyno Smith; Onisi Ratave, Tommaso Menoncello, Leonardo Marin, Ignacio Mendy; Jacob Umaga, Andy Uren; Thomas Gallo, Bautista Bernasconi, Giosue Zilocchi, Niccolo Cannone, Federico Ruzza, Manuel Zuliani, Michele Lamaro (capt), Lorenzo Cannone.

Replacements: Siua Maile, Destiny Aminu, Tiziano Pasquali, Riccardo Favretto, So’otala Fa’aso’o, Alessandro Izekor, Alessandro Garbisi, Paolo Odogwu.

Cardiff: Ioan Lloyd; Mason Grady, Elijah Evans, Ben Thomas, Jacob Beetham; Callum Sheedy, Ellis Bevan; Ed Byrne, Liam Belcher (capt), Keiron Assiratti, Evan Rees, Rory Thornton, Alex Mann, Dan Thomas, Alun Lawrence.

Replacements: Dafydd Hughes, Rhys Barratt, Sam Wainwright, Lucas de la Rua, Evan Lloyd, Ieuan Davies, Rory Jennings, Cam Winnett.

Referee: Kevin Bralley (France)

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