The Ospreys' hopes of a late season surge up the United Rugby Championship table were hit as a missed conversion denied them a comeback victory over Benetton at the Swansea.com Stadium.
Trying to move on from the 58-3 hammering against Munster, Toby Booth's side had floundered for much of the night - trailing 21-8 heading into the final stages despite Luke Morgan's early score.
However, late tries from Sam Parry and Reuben Morgan-Williams gave them a sniff of a victory that would have boosted their chances of toppling Cardiff in the Welsh Shield stakes, only for the conversion from out wide to hit the post.
Boosted by the release of Six Nations squad members Keiran Williams and Rhys Davies, it was the Ospreys who started the brighter. After good work by their pack, it was wing Morgan who crossed out wide after the Ospreys backline opened the the Italian defence with ease with a couple of passes on seven minutes.
That would be as good as it got for a while though. After Ignacio Mendy had a score chalked off for a forward pass, the Italians soon pulled ahead. When Stephen Myler failed to gather Rhyno Smith's up-and-under, blindside flanker Giovanni Pettinelli hacked the ball ahead before sliding to the turf to beat both Owen Watkin and Iestyn Hopkins in regaining possession.
Before either Ospreys player could react to Pettinelli's actions, he'd already popped an offload off the floor to centre Joaquin Riera in support, putting him over for Benetton's opening try.
Myler briefly put the Ospreys ahead again from the tee, only for the boot of Jacob Umaga to not only restore, but extend the margin of Benetton's lead.
Umaga extended the lead after the break before the Ospreys' problems multiplied after Harri Deaves was sent to the sin-bin. The away side took advantage moments later, with more fast-paced handling putting Marcus Watson over in the corner.
Hard-running centre Williams and Wales U20s full-back Hopkins remained threats throughout, but the Swansea side lacked composure in key situations - with wild offloads and loose passes punctuating promising positions.
Concerningly, with 15 minutes left, both departed - with Williams appearing in a bit of discomfort that will raise questions over his involvement in the remaining two rounds of the Six Nations.
Their hopes of victory might have gone with the pair, but, with seven minutes left, a powerful driving maul saw Parry force his way over and reduce the gap to just six points.
Then, as the clock moved towards the red, the Ospreys pushed hard for a winning score. After an assault on the line that went somewhere close to 30 phases and brought about a couple of penalties, Jack Walsh chipped over the top for Morgan-Williams to score in the corner.
However, Walsh's conversion agonisingly hit the upright to hand Benetton victory.
READ NEXT:
Six young players who will contest the Wales No. 10 jersey in the future
Mike Brown tears apart 'worst Wales team I've seen' and accuses Alun Wyn
The three unseen Wales squad players Warren Gatland will consider for final Six Nations matches
Wales international set to sign for English giants this week and throw Test career into doubt
