The Lions fly-half squeezed into the corner following a late penalty for the hosts to edge a nine-try back-and-forth thriller.
The Ospreys themselves had thought they had pulled off a credible win in South Africa when replacement hooker Sam Parry powered over in the closing minutes to earn an attacking bonus point. But it would not be the visitors day as the Lions leapfrogged their Welsh counterparts in the final URC standings.
Springbok wing Edwill van der Merwe had opened the scoring in his last game before joining Sharks with a try in the early minutes.
Second-row Will Griffiths then responded straight away for the Ospreys, showing great anticipation at the re-start to charge down Richard Kriel’s clearance to equal the scores.
Captain Jaco Visagie responded to give the home side the lead at the break, though Ospreys would once again be scratching their heads at missed opportunities with Reuben Morgan-Williams and Keiran Williams miscommunication leading to the centre failing to convert the scrum-half’s burst.
Lock James Ratti finally went over after the restart after several phases of play camped on the Lions try-line with the Ospreys’ second, but hooker Visagie responded for a second time just minutes later to swing the contest back the South African’s way.
The Ospreys though were not done and showed fight and character to once again take the lead. Jack Walsh racing through after a neat move seeing Williams laying off to the full-back.
A physical defensive effort though would start to show with the Lions pouncing once more with Henco van Wyk storming through two tired tackles to flip the scoreboard into a tight, nail-biting finale.
Parry looked to have won it then for the Ospreys, but Mark Jones’ side would not be able to hold out the final play of the game to stop Dobella jubilantly scoring a dramatic winner.
Lions XV:
Quan Horn, Richard Kriel, Henco van Wyk, Bronson Mills, Edwill van der Merwe, Lubabalo Dobela, Nico Steyn, Juan Schoeman,
Jaco Visagie (captain), Asenathi Ntlabakanye, Ruan Venter, Ruan Delport, JC Pretorius, Renzo du Plessis, Jarod Cairns.
Replacements:
Morne Brandon, SJ Kotze, RF Schoeman, Izan Esterhuizen, WJ Steenkamp, Layton Horn, Marius Louw, Kelly Mpeku.
Ospreys XV:
Jack Walsh, Luke Morgan, Evardi Boshoff, Keiran Williams, Ryan Conbeer, Dan Edwards, Reuben Morgan-Williams
Steffan Thomas, Dewi Lake (captain), Tom Botha, James Ratti, James Fender, Will Griffiths, Harri Deaves, Morgan Morse.
Replacements:
Sam Parry, Garyn Phillips, Kian Hire, Lewis Jones, Lewis Lloyd, Kieran Hardy, Owen Williams, Iestyn Hopkins.
[Lead image: Ospreys Rugby]
