Head Coach Dai Flanagan felt his Dragons deserved more as a gutsy display saw them push high flying Vodacom Bulls all the way in the BKT United Rugby Championship at Rodney Parade.
Wing Corey Baldwin scored his second try of the season, but the Men of Gwent left empty handed while Bulls grabbed a late try bonus point.
Flanagan felt the score was harsh on his side who went toe-to-toe with a physical South African outfit that have genuine league title aspirations.
“I felt we deserved more,” said Flanagan. “There are some big decisions that didn’t go our way.
“At 17-3 we could have made it 17-10 with a decision that goes against us, and we score on the next play off a kick through. It could have been a different game in that last ten minutes.
“You could sense the boys were deflated. They had worked extremely hard with no reward.
“I have spoken to the referee and said it is just not fair on my players. He is a good referee and a good man, and he will feed back, I am sure.
“I felt we deserved more,” he added. “We executed a plan, and they are not top of the league table for nothing, the way they play and the physicality they bring.
“We managed to contain them a lot in the first half. They had a spell for ten minutes in the second when they were unbelievable with offloads.
“We showed composure to reign it in and manage the game well.
“We didn’t give them multiple set pieces to build momentum, we managed to keep the ball on and move the ball. We would have just liked to have scored a few more tries.”
Flanagan was also pleased to see a number of players make positive impacts as the injury list at the club looks to ease.
He said: “Dan (Lydiate) was superb, I thought Ben Carter was excellent when he came on, George Nott and Matthew Screech were good in the first half and Sean Lonsdale is so underestimated. He is a workhorse.
“Taine (Basham) can be proud of that and looked a threat again, Harrison Keddie adding to us when he came on and Aaron Wainwright doing something.
“It’s nice to have that depth and if we want to be serious about competing going forward, we need that depth.
“It’s awesome to have Ben Carter back,” he added. “He is turning lineouts over, getting us turnovers, and the sky is the limit for him.
“I expect him to kick on, I expect him to go on the summer tour with Wales and be a massive success.”
I felt we deserved more... We executed a plan, and they are not top of the league table for nothing, the way they play and the physicality they bring...
