THERE’S no other way to start this column than by addressing my yellow card in last Sunday’s derby with Cardiff Blues.

After coming in at half-time and stressing how comfortable we had been but to keep pressing, it was around the 65th minute that we buckled.

They started rumbling towards the line with a driving lineout and the referee, Ian Davies, put his arm out to play penalty advantage – and out of frustration I did something stupid that wouldn't have even prevented the inevitable, something I immediately regretted.

He awarded a penalty try and sent me to the sin bin.

The phrase that has come to mind since would be to 'lose that battle and win the war’ as I should have simply conceded the try and remained on the pitch as perhaps we would have been celebrating a well-deserved win rather than reflecting on a loss.

I am really disappointed in myself and want to apologise to our supporters for that action; it’s one of the first times I experienced something like this and watching it back it looks so irrational.

I guess it was a split-second decision and I got it wrong. It was even harder for me sitting there and watching on from the touchline, trust me.

My friends certainly gave me some stick afterwards, and so did the Newport RFC management and players! My mates aren’t shy in dishing it out when I make a mistake, something that definitely keeps me on my toes and motivates me in other ways!

And that’s what made last Sunday even more frustrating, it was the first time that I had played number eight since the great win against Newcastle in Europe and even better victory last Christmas in Cardiff and I thought I’d made the adjustments pretty well to have a good game up until the yellow card.

The defeat was tough to take because we dominated so much of the game but what could have been a really good December after a win against Munster and double over Pau turned a little sour.

We just didn’t capitalise against a Blues side who were there for the taking. Credit to them for sticking in there and taking their chances but it’s a game that we should have put to bed.

There hasn’t been much time for feeling sorry for ourselves because we’re back in action this afternoon against the Ospreys.

The worst thing is that due to the Blues flanker Josh Turnbull trying his best to rearrange my rib cartilage (a legal hit!) I am unable to rectify the error and will be watching from the sidelines, only adding to my reputation this season for only featuring on the teamsheet for home games.

It’s always a tough game at the Liberty Stadium and they’ve got a formidable record there but we have to adopt the same attitude as we have when going to France over the last year and a half.

The Ospreys are not be ‘the galacticos’ anymore but they still have some world class players and won their own derby last week by fighting like hell for a great win at the Scarlets.

There is no doubt that they are a quality side but we go there with a positive approach and quietly confident that we can do a good job on them if we all turn up and do our own jobs.

But one thing is for sure we have to tighten up on our driving lineout defence, which has been our Achilles heel this season and has been exploited by some teams.

It was, however, an area where we were really strong last season in both attack and defence and we are looking in great detail in how to get back to old form.

The Blues saw it as a weakness and we can’t allow the Ospreys to do the same because our defence elsewhere has been exemplary, having conceded only three tries in the Guinness Pro12 at Rodney Parade.

On a personal note I am looking forward to the back of 2015 with all of the injury issues I have had but it has been a year of mixed emotions with playing and coaching.

With the Dragons our form has been a mixed bag and consistency would be one of our New Year’s Resolutions. If we can take our recent attitude out west then there is no reason why 2016 can’t start on a positive note.