Ulster however, have now suffered three home defeats this season and look already to be out of contention for a title shot.

A scrappy first half saw Ulster lead 6-3 through two David Humphreys’ penalties to one successful kick from Ceri Sweeney – but the game sparked into life in the second period with the visitors running in three tries. The first came when Percy Montgomery crunched Humphreys in his own 22 and Kevin Morgan was on hand as the Dragons made the most of the loose possession, scoring under the posts for Sweeney to convert.

After further penalties had been exchanged Ulster came back into the lead when Neil Best gathered a cross field kick to score in the corner – however the lead was short lived as an Adam Black try in less than five minutes put Dragons back in the lead at 18-14. The Dragons struck again shortly afterwards with Nathan Brew getting the visitor’s third.

However Ulster plugged away and Ronnie McCormack scored late on and despite a third Sweeney penalty in stoppage time the home side at least had the consolation of a losing bonus point.