Toby Flood ensured Leicester Tiger's bid for a record-equalling third Heineken Cup title began in successful fashion against Ospreys at Welford Road.

The England international went off nursing a leg injury 20 minutes from time, but his four first-half penalties were enough to secure victory over the Welsh region. Ospreys, who travelled to the east midlands without their suspended centre Gavin Henson, delivered a lacklustre display. Shane Williams hardly received a pass, such was Leicester's dominance and control of possession.

Williams' sole scoring contribution came from a drop-goal, with James Hook adding a penalty, as Leicester avenged their Twickenham defeat in last season's EDF Energy Cup final. The Ospreys will be relieved to have collected a losing bonus point, which could ultimately prove crucial in the quarter-final shake-up, but it was not a performance to frighten established European forces such as Toulouse, Munster or Wasps.

Tom Varndell failed to make a Leicester starting line-up captained by Martin Corry, while Flood and Ben Woods both made their European debuts for the club. The Leicester forwards showed an immediate appetite for battle, led by their uncompromising tighthead prop Julian White. White set the tone, playing the game in Ospreys' collective face, and they could not cope.

Tigers were hungrier and quicker at the breakdown area, and it took Ospreys 14 minutes to break into Leicester's 22, by which time they were 3-0 behind. Flood completed his penalty hat-trick early in the second quarter, landing one kick from a metre inside Leicester's half, but Tigers also blew three clear try-scoring chances.

Tom Croft galloped over the Ospreys line as half-time approached, only for referee Alain Rolland to call play back for a lineout after Matt Smith put his foot in touch during the build-up. Flood's fourth successful penalty put Leicester 12 points clear, and it took the Ospreys 39 minutes to open their account through a Williams drop-goal.

The Ospreys were relieved to troop off only nine points adrift, such had been Leicester's dominance, and a Hook penalty after 58 minutes further cut the deficit. Hook, now operating at inside centre after the Ospreys sent on their Wales Under-20 fly-half Daniel Biggar, had earlier seen a long-range strike drift narrowly wide as Leicester came under sustained pressure for the first time.

A raft of Ospreys substitutions, notably the arrivals of flanker Filo Tiatia and prop Duncan Jones, generated much-needed momentum, while Leicester lost a limping Flood, who was replaced by South African Derick Hougaard. The Ospreys went for broke as the clock ticked down, Bowe only narrowly being denied a breakaway try by Geordan Murphy's superb defensive work, but Leicester did not panic though, tackling feverishly before Hougaard took the pressure off with a decisive 50-metre clearance kick.