An injury-time drop goal by full-back Sam Vardy gave Leicester their first Heineken Cup victory of the campaign and finally ended a tenacious performance by a Cardiff Blues team down to 14 men for most of the second half.

A crowd of more than 26,000 justified the move to the Millennium Stadium but the sending-off of prop Gary Powell after 52 minutes proved a hammer blow for the home side's supporters.

The starting line-ups reflected the respective results last weekend, with the Blues retaining the XV who won a Bourgoin, while Leicester made six changes to the side beaten at home by Munster.

Among those brought in were England trio Andy Goode, Harry Ellis and Julian White, all of whom impressed as second-half substitutes against the Irish, while the talismanic Geordan Murphy returned on the wing.

Both sides showed their adventurous intent from the off, and the Blues were first to turn it into points when fly-half Nicky Robinson, a shock omission from the Wales squad for next month's internationals, cut back inside and chipped over the Tigers' defence.

Robinson and team-mate Mosese Luveitasau were first to dive on the loose ball, the former getting the official recognition. Ben Blair converted.

But handling errors by Chris Czekaj and Mike Phillips presented Ollie Smith with a try, which Goode improved to bring the scores level.

More defensive frailties handed Leicester their second, Goode's cross-field kick giving Tom Varndell an easy run-in for an unconverted touchdown.

Goode added a penalty, but his failed kick to touch let the Blues back into the game.

Luveitasau collected, with Robinson and Tom Shanklin sending Czekaj over on the left. Blair converted.

Brilliant play by Tigers flanker Lewis Moody, back after treatment for an early cut, sent Smith clear, but Shanklin hauled him down with a last-ditch tackle. Smith was injured in the incident and forced to limp off.

Former All Black Xavier Rush came on at number eight early in the second half, but his first scrum saw the Blues penalised to allow Goode a straight-forward penalty.

Things went from bad to worse for the Blues scrum, when Powell was red-carded for a butt on Tigers hooker George Chuter.

The home side had to sacrifice wing Luveitasau to allow Taufa'ao Filise to join the front row.

A Robinson cross kick and Shanklin gallop earned the position for Blair to pick a penalty for Cardiff.

Leicester had to survive some desperate moments, before they were able to break down field for Vardy to drop the goal which finally settled matters.