Danny Wilson has praised his side following a "dominant performance" in the bonus point victory over Ulster.
Wales’ Capital Region maintained pressure on third place Cheetahs following Saturday’s victory, in the final Guinness PRO14 clash of the campaign at the Cardiff Arms Park.
The PRO14’s in-form sides, Cardiff Blues and Edinburgh, face-off in the Challenge Cup quarter final at the Scottish capital next week, and a win would see Wilson’s side host either Pau or Stade Francais in the semi final at the Arms Park.
Wilson, who will take up a role with Wasps next season, hopes to play one final game at CAP, but had a message of thanks to the home support, who has been inspirational during his tenure at the region.
“Probably our rockiest patch of the game was just after half time, where we didn’t touch the ball for 12-14 minutes, but outside that I thought we were comfortably the dominant team,” said Wilson.
“Any Ulster team will hurt you if you’re not at your best, and I thought we were at our best today, or at least very close to it.
“To get a bonus point win here against Ulster, and our fifth win on the bounce, is quite an achievement.
“It sets us up nicely for the end of the season but we’ve also got our feet on the ground fully aware of what we’re facing over the next few weeks. We’re keen to go and do well in the two competitions we’re still in.
“The boys will tell you, everytime you play Ulster it’s a very physical affair.
“Our intention is to be back here for a home semi final, and if we can get to that point, we’ll really give ourselves an opportunity.
“It was important that we thanked the supporters, and this crowd has been fantastic during my three years here.
“They’re extremely knowledgable, extremely passionate and they really get behind the teams and create an atmosphere.
“I have really fond memories of it and hopefully there’s more to come.”
The bonus point was clinched as Dillon Lewis latched onto a Jarrod Evans offload to slide in.
Nine minutes earlier, with three tries in the bag, Cardiff Blues had a close range penalty, and Evans stepped up for the three points, rather than kick for the corner and chase the elusive fourth try.
Wilson was delighted to see the decision-making pay-off as his side claimed the valuable five-points in the chase for a play-off spot.
The Cardiff Blues head coach said: “At the Arms Park, especially, we’ve been in extremely good form, and we came into this game confident. We knew it was going to be tight in our minds, but at the end of the day we came away with the bonus point win, which is extremely pleasing.
“It was a call from us to go for goal with nine minutes remaining, and the simple reason for that is that we wanted to get three tries clear. We knew we then could after the bonus point.
“If you don’t score a try from that position, you could then have a real edgy end to the game and end up kicking to the stand, as opposed to doing what we did in winning the ball back, chasing the bonus point and ultimately getting there.
“It was a great kick off and a great take from Blaine Scully. We then could roll again into, what we showed all day, a really threatening attack that’s led to the try.”