The Dragons new fly half Ceri Sweeney was the star of the opening exchanges and after only 11 minutes masterminded the opening try for Gareth Wyatt as a beautiful miss pass found space for Hal Luscombe to burst through and feed Wyatt the scoring pass.

Lee Thomas narrowed the gap with his first penalty before the Blues went into the lead on one of their first forays into the Dragons 22.

Man of the match Gethin Jenkins charged down a clearance kick and Richard Smith was on hand to gather the loose ball and get over for the try, with Thomas converting.

Although Sweeney and Thomas exchanged penalties it was the Blues who were beginning to exert control on the game and their victory was secured in the closing minutes when a fumble in the Dragons defence allowed Cardiff Blues skipper Martyn Williams to collected the ball and stretch over for the try.