Scarlets fly-half Sam Costelow missed two late kicks at goal to allow Dragons to move off the bottom of the United Rugby Championship table with a 13-12 win at a rain-sodden Rodney Parade.
After a Boxing Day thrashing at Cardiff, the Dragons made wholesale changes and it paid dividends with a spirited performance which saw them win the last Welsh derby of the festive period.
For most of the game they were marginally the better side but Scarlets still outscored them in terms of tries.
Aaron Wainwright scored Dragons’ try with Cai Evans adding two penalties and a conversion.
Tom Rogers and Ioan Lloyd scored Scarlets’ tries, one of which Costelow converted.
On his 100th appearance for them, Wainwright led out the Dragons and his side were soon ahead when Evans kicked a fourth-minute penalty.
Two minutes later, Evans was presented with another opportunity but this time his 50-metre attempt sailed wide.
However, the Dragons were able to maintain the pressure with all of the first 15 minutes being played out in the visitors’ half but that period was easily forgettable as the try-line was never threatened.
In the incessant rain neither side were prepared to risk handling errors so kicking was the main order of the day.
After 20 minutes, Scarlets suddenly bucked the trend and with their first attack scored the opening try. A well-timed pass from Costelow created a gap for Ioan Lloyd with the full-back sending Rogers racing away to score.
Scarlets then suffered two blows in quick succession. First, they lost wing, Steff Evans, to a failed HIA before Wainwright rewarded a number of forward drives by powering over from close range. Evans converted and the Dragons held a deserved 10-7 interval lead.
Scarlets began the second half by conceding a number of penalties, the last of which Evans knocked over to extend the home side’s lead.
That score was the only one of a desperately poor third quarter with both sides unable to cope with the desperate playing conditions with knock-ons a prominent feature.
Dragons brought on forwards Leon Brown and Ollie Griffiths for the final quarter with Scarlets introducing Keiran Hardy in place of Gareth Davies at scrum-half.
With 12 minutes remaining, Scarlets scored an excellent try which belied the conditions. In the home 22, their forwards maintained possession with a number of forward drives before moving the ball swiftly in the opposite direction for Lloyd to dummy his way over.
Costelow missed the conversion and soon afterwards a straightforward penalty from only 20 metres out to give Dragons a morale-boosting victory.
Scorers:
Dragons RFC: Try: Aaron Wainwright. Conversion: Cai Evans. Penalties: Cai Evans (2).
Scarlets RFC: Tries: Tom Rogers, Ioan Lloyd. Conversion: Sam Costelow.
Teams:
Dragons RFC: 15 Cai Evans, 14 Jared Rosser, 13 Aneurin Owen, 12 Harri Ackerman, 11 Evan Rosser, 10 Will Reed, 9 Rhodri Williams (c), 8 Aaron Wainwright, 7 Harri Keddie, 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 George Nott, 4 Sean Lonsdale, 3 Lloyd Fairbrother, 2 James Benjamin, 1 Rodrigo Martinez. Replacements: 16 Brodie Coghlan, 17 Rhodri Jones, 18 Leon Brown, 19 Joe Davies, 20 Ryan Woodman, 21 Ollie Griffiths, 22 Dane Blacker, 23 Corey Baldwin.
Scarlets RFC: 15 Ioan Lloyd, 14 Tom Rogers, 13 Joe Roberts, 12 Johnny Williams, 11 Steff Evans, 10 Sam Costelow, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Vaea Fifita, 7 Josh Macleod (captain), 6 Sam Lousi, 5 Morgan Jones, 4 Alex Craig, 3 Sam Wainwright, 2 Ryan Elias, 1 Kemsley Mathias. Replacements: 16 Shaun Evans, 17 Wyn Jones, 18 Joe Jones, 19 Jac Price, 20 Ben Williams, 21 Kieran Hardy, 22 Jonathan Davies, 23 Ioan Nicholas