Dragons' late surge floors Ospreys

MATCH REPORT: Dragons have kicked off their era under new captain Ben Carter with a hard-fought 23-21 win over Ospreys on Saturday.

The Dragons were able to put the first points on the board after the kick-off with the boot of Lloyd Evans slotting them into a three point lead.

Ospreys answered back soon after, with a long-range kick from Dan Eds slotted right through the middle of the posts to bring the scores level at 3-all.

The first ten minutes were what you would expect of a derby game at Rodney Parade, a scrappy affair with both teams finding their feet.

As the game progressed Ospreys slowly began to find holes in the home team’s defence, with a smart chip causing problems for Angus O’Brien and setting up the Ospreys deep into Dragons’ territory.

Two early opportunities from the Ospreys line-out went amiss following some solid maul defence from the home side.

Ospreys took the lead when Luke Morgan and Luke Davies combined to cut through the Dragons’ defence with Keiran Williams prospering with the score under the sticks, 10-3.

Dragons closed the deficit with Evans adding another penalty to his tally.

With almost 30 minutes played, the Dragons took the lead.

A few quick offloads in the Ospreys 22 opened up a clear run at the posts for Harri Keddie. Lloyd Evans converted to make the score 13-10 to the Dragons.

After a late hit by Lloyd Evans on Dan Eds, the young 10 was able to bring the scores level with another well-placed kick through the middle of the posts. 13-13.

With a couple of minutes to go in the first half, the Dragons conceded another penalty with a high tackle on Jack Walsh. The reliable boot of Dan Eds taking the visitos to a 16-13 lead.

The Dragons had an opportunity to bring the scores level just before half-time but chose to confidently go for the corner, which proved less than fruitful.

With a narrow 16-13 lead, Ospreys came out with intent in the second half. Some powerful carrying from the pack and some innovative attacking moves put the Dragons under the cosh.

It looked like the Ospreys might be rewarded for their early pressure, as Jack Walsh broke through the Dragons line and offloaded to Keith but the scrambling defenders were able to hold him over the line.

They eventually broke the defence when Walshy cut through before shifting the ball out to Ryan Conbeer to score on his debut out wide for the 21-13 lead.

With 12 minutes remaining, Dragons’ ill-displined crept in and James Benjamin found himself in the bin.

However, despite the numerical advantage, the Dragons really started to turn the screw, heaping the pressure on the visitors in the final minutes, Luke Yendle scored from close range.

With scores tied at 21 a piece, the conversion was taken right in from of the sticks, seeing Dragons snatch the victory.

The scorers:

For Dragons:
Tries: Keddie, Yendle
Cons: Evans 2
Pens: Evans 3

For Ospreys:
Tries: Williams, Conbeer
Con: Edwards
Pens: Edward 3

Yellow card: James Benjamin (Dragaon, 69)

Teams

Dragons:  15 Angus O’Brien, 14 Rio Dyer, 13 Joe Westwood, 12 Aneurin Owen, 11 Jared Rosser, 10 Lloyd Evans, 9 Dane Blacker, 8 Shane Lewis-Hughes, 7 Harri Keddie, 6 Ryan Woodman, 5 Matthew Screech, 4 Ben Carter (captain), 3 Leon Brown, 2 Brodie Coghlan, 1 Rodrigo Martinez.
Replacements: 16 James Benjamin, 17 Rhodri Jones, 18 Luke Yendle, 19 George Nott, 20 Dan Lydiate, 21 Rhodri Williams, 22 Harry Wilson, 23 Ewan Rosser.

Ospreys: 15 Jack Walsh, 14 Luke Morgan, 13 Owen Watkin, 12 Keiran Williams, 11 Ryan Conbeer, 10 Dan Edwards, 9 Reuben Morgan-Williams, 8 Morgan Morris, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Jac Morgan (captain), 5 Adam Beard, 4 James Ratti, 3 Tom Botha, 2 Dewi Lake, 1 Gareth Thomas.
Replacements: 16 Lewis Lloyd, 17 Steffan Thomas, 18 Math Iowerth-Scott, 19 Huw Sutton, 20 Harri Deaves, 21 Luke Davies, 22 Phil Cokanasiga, 23 Max Nagy.

Referee: Ben Breakspear (Wales)
Assistant referees: Mike English (Wales), Ben Connor (Wales)
TMO: Aled Griffiths (Wales)

Source: @Ospreys