Indiscipline cost Dragons RFC as a poor ten minute spell either side of half-time undermined the Men of Gwent as they lost 26-13 to Ospreys in the BKT United Rugby Championship at Swansea.com Stadium.
Play-off chasing Ospreys went into the game needing maximum points from the derby but after being frustrated by Dragons for the opening half hour they took advantage of two quickfire yellow cards.
Aaron Wainwright and Dane Blacker were both sinbinned just before the break and the hosts profited for a 14-6 lead.
Dewi Lake then struck for a second time just after the interval against 14 men as the home side pulled clear.
Playmaker Will Reed grabbed a well-worked score, but Keiran Williams grabbed the bonus point after a botched lineout to secure the points.
The recalled Ewan Rosser – back in the full back jersey – three times took high balls from Dan Edwards under pressure before Harri Keddie won a penalty at the breakdown and up stepped Reed to drill over the kick.
Dragons were playing with lots of physicality in the opening ten minutes while home fly half Edwards looked for touch and not the posts as Ospreys chased tries and maximum points.
Aggressive defensive line speed from the visitors kept the home side at bay before Dee pounced at the breakdown to win possession.
A box kick from Dane Blacker was claimed by Rio Dyer and then a chipped kick pass from Aneurin Owen picked out Chris Hollis who fed Steff Hughes on the reverse as Flanagan’s men mixed it up.
Nicky Smith was penalised at the scrum and Reed added three more points to double the lead.
Ospreys took a quick tap from scrum half Reuben Morgan-Williams, after Dragons were pinged at the breakdown for not rolling away, but Keelan Giles spilled a dipping low pass out wide.
Blacker’s kicking was keeping Ospreys at arm’s length as the game approached the half hour mark before Hughes pumped a long kick to turn the hosts.
Luke Morgan sparked at attack with a neat step out wide and an infringement allowed Ospreys to kick to the corner and turn to their maul.
Another penalty saw Wainwright yellow carded, but Dragons held firm and won the scrum as the driving maul was taken down by the home side.
However, pressure was building, as Dragons struggled to get out of their 22, and the home side were denied once by the ball being held up before back we went for a penalty and Lake bulldozed over.
With time up, Blacker was yellow carded for knocking the ball down and Morgan-Williams scored after a break down the short side and offload from Morris for a 14-6 lead at the interval.
Wainwright returned at the start of the second half, but a scrum penalty immediately put Dragons on the back foot and Lake drove over from then driving lineout move.
Flanagan brought on Ryan Woodman and Rodrigo Martinez to try and spark his troops into life while Brodie Coghlan replaced a patched up Dee.
Morgan Morris broke clear but a retreating Blacker picked off his pass to stop a certain try while Dragons countered with Dyer, Rosser and Hollis linking up before Tomkinson drilled a low kick in.
Dragons then struck a blow as Hollis got his arms free and fed Tomkinson who released Reed to dive under the posts. The conversion cut the lead to 19-13.
Keiran Williams, though, scored a fourth as a poor home lineout found the centre Williams who was the fortunate beneficiary as he stretched over the line.
A slick wrap around move from Blacker, Hollis and Rosser saw the full back fly and ball fall for Tomkinson to touch down. But the TMO ruled out the score for a forward offload.
Westwood then broke a line and fed Blacker, but his offload was just too hot for Lonsdale to take as he tore down the middle.
More late pressure saw Reed and then Westwood, who made a big impression, link up with Wainwright down the left wing but hosts scrambled back.
Timeline:
05m Reed p 0-3
18m Reed p 0-6
37m Lake t Edwards c 7-6
40m Morgan-Williams t Edwards c 14-6
44m Lake t 19-6
54m Reed t Reed c 19-13
59m Williams t Edwards c 26-13
Ospreys: Jack Walsh, Luke Morgan, Tom Florence, Keiran Williams, Keelan Giles, Dan Edwards, Reuben Morgan-Williams; Nicky Smith, Dewi Lake, Tom Botha, James Ratti, Huw Sutton, Jac Morgan, Justin Tipuric, Morgan Morris
Replacements: Sam Parry, Gareth Thomas, Rhys Henry, Victor Sekekete, Harri Deaves, Luke Davies, Luke Scully, Max Nagy
Dragons RFC: Ewan Rosser, Rio Dyer, Steff Hughes (Westwood 59), Aneurin Owen (Tomkinson 51), Chris Hollis, Will Reed, Dane Blacker (Lloyd 69); Rhodri Jones (Martinez 44), Elliot Dee (Coghlan 47), Chris Coleman (Arhip 59), Ben Carter, Matthew Screech (Lonsdale 66), Harri Keddie (Woodman 44), Taine Basham, Aaron Wainwright
Replacements: Brodie Coghlan, Rodrigo Martinez, Dmitri Arhip, Sean Lonsdale, Ryan Woodman, Morgan Lloyd, Joe Westwood, Sio Tomkinson
Referee: Ben Breakspear (WRU, 2nd game)
