Head Coach Dai Flanagan admitted the manner of defeat to Connacht Rugby had encapsulated the season as Dragons were edged out 22-20 in a tense finale at Rodney Parade.
Aaron Wainwright and Jared Rosser grabbed tries in the BKT United Rugby Championship home encounter – with the Men of Gwent having to play over a half a man down after a red card to Matthew Screech.
But in a dramatic finale, Dragons narrowly missed out of scoring on several occasions before two late drop goal attempts missed the target.
"That game summed up our season,” said Flanagan. “There was so much character, togetherness, effort but a lot of inaccuracy.
“That’s disappointing because there are areas of our game that are growing – the game management when we were down to 13 was awesome and Will Reed took a step forward in his development.
“But the inaccuracy is killing us at the moment. We had two goalline attacks and good teams finish them off.
“We have plans to get better but we are just not executing at the minute and we have to stick at it. Things don’t change overnight but I want them to change quicker. We’ve got a bit of work to do.”
Screech was given a first half red card and Flanagan admitted he had no qualms over the decision.
“It was shoulder to head and we have to protect players. The ref has a job to do in the middle and that was a clear red,” he said.
“Losing a lock affected the scrum and the lineout – I think we tried every lineout in the book! George Nott helped with that when he came on, but Wainwright’s work rate was superb in attack before that.”
Refecting on the home campaign, Flanagan added: “We’ve had three good wins here at Rodney Parade and a lot of bonus points.
"That is not good enough when we are at home; it is a step forward but not a big enough step.
“We need to turn these games around, I don’t go screaming and shouting at people because that is a little bit childish and you lose people.
“I am on this journey with them and I need to help them and the boys and the staff do work hard, and we do enjoy what we do.”
There was so much character, so much togetherness and so much effort... But there was a lot of inaccuracy and that is disappointing...
