A superb first-half Dragons RFC display unfortunately wasn’t enough as Ulster Rugby battled back to win 30-34 in the final United Rugby Championship game at Rodney Parade this season.
First-half tries from captain Aneurin Owen, Huw Anderson and Rhodri Williams along with a Will Reed penalty gave Dragons a 24-14 half-time lead with James Hume and Rob Herring responding for the visitors.
A Herring second brought Ulster back into the game early in the second half before successive Will Reed penalties gave Dragons a nine-point lead heading into the final quarter of an hour.
However, a penalty from replacement John Cooney followed by a Scott Wilson try gave Ulster the lead before the substitute scrum-half sealed the game with a last-second penalty.
Dragons welcomed back Wales Six Nations squad members Elliot Dee, Aaron Wainwright and Rhodri Williams to the starting XV along with vice-captains Harrison Keddie and Matthew Screech following injuries.
Despite the returnees, Dragons still faced a lengthy injury list and were forced into a late change with Rodrigo Martinez withdrawing due to a leg injury meaning a first home start for Dylan Kelleher-Griffiths with Nathan Evans, on permit from Newport RFC, brought onto the bench.
Dragons started the game on fire, reclaiming the ball from the kick-off off and some promising carries particularly from Keddie gave them a dent in the 22 before Reed fed captain Owen who just managed to find the line inside the first minute.
Reed proceeded to add the extras but Ulster were soon level after concerted pressure resulting in Hume cutting a good angle to go over by the posts.
Herring was shown a yellow card for a high shot on Screech with the Irish international seeing yellow and Reed converted the penalty.
Sadly, Screech was forced off with a HIA and unfortunately was unable to return but soon Dragons made the man advantage count.
Turning down three points Dragons kicked to the corner and after Dee went close on the base of the driving maul, Williams’ pinpoint pass found a brilliant line from Anderson to score under the posts.
Dragons would go down to 14 themselves after Joe Westwood was shown a yellow card for hands in the ruck following a line break and Ulster immediately capitalised as the returned Herring went over from close range.
The Men of Gwent responded before halftime with arguably the try of the game as Owen stripped Ulster of possession before quick hands found Anderson who’s burst of speed saw him break through before finding Williams on his inside to score.
Ulster responded following the restart with Herring grabbing his second again from close range to close the gap to three, although that was doubled to six with another Reed penalty this time from a scrum.
The next 15 minutes provided more Ulster pressure and a try looked inevitable until Dragons earned a huge turnover penalty under their own sticks before proceeding to go up the other end and gain another three points through the boot of Reed.
Substitute scrum-half John Cooney hit back immediately with a penalty of his own and after Reed had agonisingly hit the post with a penalty Ulster took the lead.
With Anderson trying to break out of defence he was tap tackled with Wilson turning the ball over before spinning and barrelling his way over.
Dragons were unable to regain momentum in the final 10 minutes as Ulster earnt piggy-back penalties and thought they had aa fifth try through substitute hooker John Andrew inside the final minute only to be disallowed for obstruction.
Referee Griffin Colby was playing advantage to the visitors however and Cooney obliged with the final kick of the game.
Dragons head coach Filo Tiatia said: “It’s a game we shouldn’t have lost.”
“There’s a lot of improvements in our game on parts we’re trying to work on.
“You saw in the first half we applied really good pressure from kick-off, won the ball back and were rewarded straight away but we then let them back in.”
Scorers:
Dragons RFC: Tries: Aneurin Owen, Huw Anderson, Rhodri Williams. Conversions: Will Reed (3). Penalties: Will Reed (3).
Ulster Rugby: Tries: James Hume, Rob Herring (2), Scott Wilson. Conversions: Nathan Doak (2), John Cooney. Penalties: John Cooney.
Teams:
Dragons RFC: 15 Huw Anderson, 14 Rio Dyer, 13 Joe Westwood, 12 Aneurin Owen, 11 Ashton Hewitt, 10 Will Reed, 9 Rhodri Williams, 8 Aaron Wainwright, 7 Harrison Keddie, 6 Shane Lewis-Hughes, 5 George Nott, 4 Matthew Screech, 3 Chris Coleman, 2 Elliot Dee, 1 Rodrigo Martinez. Replacements: 16 Brodie Coglan, 17 Dylan Kelleher-Griffiths, 18 Paula Latu, 19 Steve Cummins, 20 Taine Basham, 21 Dane Blacker, 22 Josh Thomas, 23 Jared Rosser.
Ulster Rugby: 15 Stewart Moore, 14 Michael Lowry, 13 James Hume, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Jack Murphy, 9 Nathan Doak, 8 James McNabney, 7 Nick Timoney, 6 David McCann, 5 Matthew Dalton, 4 Alan O’Connor (c), 3 Tom O’Toole, 2 Rob Herring, 1 Callum Reid. Replacements: 16 John Andrew, 17 Sam Crean, 18 Scott Wilson, 19 Kieran Treadwell, 20 Reuben Crothers, 21 John Cooney, 22 Aidan Morgan, 23 Zac Ward.