Both teams were without their British & Irish Lions and senior internationals at the home of the Principality Premiership side, but it was the English raiders who just edged the encounter.
Matt O’Connor’s Tigers outscored the Ospreys three tries to two, Jonah Holmes, Harry Thacker and Jake Kerr doing the damage with Joe Ford booting three conversions.
The Baker duo of Jay and Dan replied for the Ospreys with Luke Price adding the extras, but it was not enough to seal victory in front of a hardy crowd of 3,478.
In filthy conditions at the Brewery Field, the Ospreys fell behind early on. Leicester moved the ball well and a simple two on one saw Holmes escape the clutches of Owen Watkin to score.
Ford, brother of England fly-half George, added the conversion.
The Tigers have always had a fearsome pack and with Tom Croft leading their charge from the flank, it wasn’t long before the visitors crossed for a second. Thacker emerged with the ball after being driven over the line, Ford converting once more.
At that stage the Ospreys looked in trouble, but realising this wasn’t a day for free-flowing rugby, Steve Tandy’s men started to make some headway up front.
Dan Baker impressed, his namesake Jay scoring the home side’s first try. Dan – the giant Wales No 8 – then pounced from close range. Price kicked both sets of extras to tie the game up at 14-14 at the break.
The first half had been dominated by non-stop rain and there was no let-up in the wet weather as the game resumed. It didn’t help the flow of a match which both sides had planned to use to give as many of their squad as possible an early season run-out.
In the 51st minute, the Ospreys did exactly that as they rotated their side.
James Hook came on for his second Ospreys debut at full-back, Cory Allen made his bow in the centre and Brendon Leonard replaced Tom Habberfield in the pivotal scrum-half role.
Adam Beard and Rhodri Jones were also fresh faces to the forward pack.
The new introductions seemed to give Tandy’s men an extra edge initially, but after the home side coughed up a series of penalties, Leicester struck.
Replacement prop Rowan Jenkins was yellow carded for dragging down a maul and from the resulting line-out, Kerr came up with the game’s vital try.
Ford nailed the touchline conversion with ease and that proved to be the game’s final score as the Ospreys failed to find a response despite dominating possession in the final 10 minutes.
