The Newport Gwent Dragons were denied a second successive Magners League win as their Welsh rivals Cardiff clawed back at them in the second half at Rodney Parade, sealing the points for themselves with a Ceri Sweeney try and penalty from Ben Blair. Nicky Robinson, who provided back-up for Ceri Sweeney on the bench, issued the Blues’ pre-match rallying call when he warned them that they would have to be ‘up for the battle’ when taking on a Dragons side that beat the Ospreys last time out. And Dai Young’s men, who are riding high at the top of their European pool, certainly showed their battling qualities as twice they came from behind to claim their first Magners League victory since September. For this Boxing Day Welsh derby, Cardiff were without a number of their big name players. They were missing injured internationals Martyn Williams (shoulder), Gethin Jenkins (neck), Leigh Halfpenny (knee) and Deiniol Jones (thumb), while regular first-teamers Xavier Rush and Jamie Roberts also remained sidelined. The Blues’ replacement bench was bolstered by Robinson, Gareth Thomas and team captain Paul Tito, who again passed the armband onto flanker Robin Sowden Taylor. The visitors welcomed back Andy Powell, arguably Wales’ best player during the recent November series, into their back row as they looked to bounce back from their 27-13 reversal at the Scartlets last weekend. Dragons coach Paul Turner made four changes to the team he selected for last Friday’s bonus point defeat of the Ospreys. Flanker Joe Bearman, who put in a man-of-the-match performance during that win, unfortunately injured a knuckle during the game and is facing a four-week lay-off. Lewis Evans stepped in for him today at number 8, with hooker and captain Tom Willis, inside centre Ashley Smith and scrum half Wayne Evans also recalled. The home side had a good early spell and snuck into a fifth minute lead when number 10 Shaun Connor booted a penalty. New Zealander Ben Blair, who missed the Scarlets game, replied at the second attempt on 25 minutes but it was the Dragons who came closest to opening the try deadlock in the first quarter. Connor was held up over the try line as he looked to convert a snappy move, with match referee James Jones not requiring the assistance of television match official Huw Lewis. However, the Dragons, despite being on the wrong side of the possession statistics, grabbed the lead try 12 minutes before the half-time interval. Winger Richard Fussell showed his sharpness by collecting a flicked kick from Richard Mustoe on the 10-metre line, which the Blues defence dithered on, and racing all the way to the line. Connor tapped over the conversion from in front of the posts and he cancelled out a late penalty from Blair to leave the Newport Gwent outfit with a 13-6 advantage to take into the break. Yet the Dragons’ good work was undone just two minutes into the second half when a kick into space from scrum half Jason Spice caught the home defence out and Blues flanker Ma’ama Molitika was on hand to gobble up the ball and gallop over behind the posts. Blair’s successful conversion tied up the game. The ebb and flow continued as the Dragons regained the lead just four minutes later when the influential Connor split the posts with a penalty from just outside the 22. Connor followed that up with his fourth penalty success of the night but the Blues, with Powell in man-of-the-match form, stormed back up-field to score a try through former Dragons favourite Ceri Sweeney. He followed up on a bustling break from Tom Shanklin and pass from Spice to stretch over in the corner for a very unpopular score at Rodney Parade. Blair failed to add the extras, but with Tito, Thomas and Gareth Williams immediately introduced, Cardiff crucially remained on the front foot. They hit the front for the first time – with 63 minutes on the clock – when Blair picked off another penalty to punish an offside from the Dragons midfield. The men from the Welsh capital were able to largely frustrate the Dragons for the remainder of the game, keeping them at arm’s length until the hosts got back within scoring range late on. As they searched for what would probably have been the match-winning score, the Dragons had two late drop goal attempts from James Arlidge and Jason Tovey blocked down and a third and final effort, in the dying seconds, was sent wide of the mark by Tovey, who impressed throughout at full-back.
