The Ospreys had a two man advantage at the end after yellow cards for visiting skipper Ali Kellock and replacement No 8 John Beattie and that allowed them to cut the gap to a single score with a Kahn Fotuali’i try which Dan Biggar converted.
But it was a case of too little too late for the Welsh region, whose only consolation was a losing bonus point. They remain in second place in the PRO12 table, but will lose their grip on that home semi-final spot if reigning champions Munster, who also have a game in hand, win at the Dragons.
Rhys Webb sparked the first major attack of the night with a typical sniping break that almost got Hanno Dirksen over in the right corner. The flying wing, whose last gasp try at Edinburgh earned his side a vital away victory recently, was only denied by a last ditch tackle that forced him to put a foot in touch.
But it was only a temporary blip as Dirksen grabbed the first try of the game midway through the first half when he raced over and ran to the posts for a score which Dan Biggar converted.
That made it 7-3, coming moments after Ruaridh Jackson had got the scoreboard moving with a penalty, but the visitors then notched 17 unopposed points as the home side had to cope with losing their skipper Tom Smith for 10 minutes for an offence at a ruck.
John Welsh was driven over from a five metre line-out for the first try and then wing Colin Shaw squeezed through a gap to cross at the posts. Jackson converted both and added a penalty to give the Scottish raiders a 13 point lead.
Biggar landed a long range special on the stroke of half-time to reduce the deficit, but it was the Warriors who held the upper hand at the end of the first half. Biggar and Jackson then swapped penalties at the start of the second half before the Scottish international outside half hoisted his match tally to 16 points with another success to make it 26-13.
The Fotuali’i try at least gave the home side some hope in the closing moments, but the Warriors held on to notch a very significant away win.
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