Hooker Oli Burrows grabbed a late try as Dragons produced a thrilling comeback to claim a 19-19 draw with rivals Ospreys in the BKT United Rugby Championship at Rodney Parade – and it was so nearly more!
Scrum half Rhodri Williams scored a first half try as Dragons had to battle back from an early double try burst from Ospreys.
Ospreys moved 19-7 up in the second period before the Men of Gwent – spurred on by the home faithful – staged a thrilling fightback.
Wales call-up Coghlan grabbed a first before fellow hooker Burrows went over with another driving maul to draw the teams level.
And in a heart-stopping finale Tinus de Beer saw a penalty drift wide as Dragons took two points and sealed a second home draw of the campaign.
Dragons made six changes with Thomas Young making his debut while Joe Westwood, Chris Coleman, Ryan Woodman, Matthew Screech and Huw Anderson all called-up.
An early Ospreys attack won a penalty close to the line, after a series of forward bursts, but when the ball was spun in field it was disrupted by Westwood. The centre, however, was forced off after the heavy collision, with David Richards on after six minutes.
A big carry from Aaron Wainwright helped the hosts clear their lines through Tinus de Beer, but a second loose kick that ran dead gave Ospreys more field position.
A penalty at scrum time saw Ospreys go to the corner, but Woodman stole ball at the lineout before Young broke away inside his own 22.
The opening score finally came on 16 minutes when a high kick went loose and Harri Deaves picked up and showed his pace to go over in the corner for Ospreys.
Dragons responded with a penalty allowing them to test the visiting defence before de Beer popped the ball into the corner. But when ball was played in field the penalty went the other way for off feet.
Ospreys scored a second try when Max Nagy broke into space in midfield and fed the supporting Phil Cokanasiga to score by the posts. Edwards added the extras for a 12-0 lead.
The visitors were turning the screw as they won back-to-back penalties to give them the option to kick to the corner, only for Edwards to kick the ball dead and loose field position.
The penalty count and indiscipline was beginning to stack up against Dragons to allow Ospreys repeated entries.
A scrum penalty, though, offered reprieve and O’Brien kicked deep to set up an attack. When the ball was hauled down it was Young who spotted a gap and brilliantly made the line.
However, after a TMO intervention the score was chalked off for a blocking player in the build-up.
Back came the hosts once again, with Richards making yards and then Carter sparking another attack and winning a penalty.
The ball was popped to the corner and after patient play the try was finally scored by scrum half Williams as the visitors took a narrow 12-7 lead to the sheds.
The rain arrived at the start of the second half as Ospreys flew out the traps with Williams producing a sensational try saving tackle and penalty win after hauling down Huw Sutton when he looked set to score.
Ospreys grabbed a third when Cokanasiga got his hands free to keep the ball alive in the middle of the park and when the visitors went wide left and scored through Iestyn Hopkins.
Dragons needed to hit back next, with Niall Armstrong added to the mix to try and drive even more tempo alongside front row Dillon Lewis.
Two penalties in quick succession for not rolling away gave Dragons a foothold in the 22 before two more saw them knocking on the door, with referee Breakspear warning the visitors.
A kick to the corner saw the driving maul set up and the backs flooded in before the ball was punched over by Coghlan to cut the lead back to five points.
Dragons suddenly had their tails up as they carried with real purpose and won the territory battle to push Ospreys back into their own half.
Edwards spilled ball and Ospreys were then caught accidentally offside to allow O’Brien to kick deep as the game entered the final ten.
The ball was then driven over by a huge driving maul – with Burrows the man to dot down.
A thrilling finish saw De Beer put a penalty attempt just wide with seconds remaining before both teams went on the attack before referee Breakspear called time.
Timeline:
16m Deaves t 0-5
21m Cokanasiga t Edwards c 0-12
38m Williams t De Beer c 7-12
46m Hopkins t Edwards c 7-19
60m Coghlan t De Beer c 14-19
75m Burrows t 19-19
Dragons RFC: Angus O’Brien, Fine Inisi (Evans 75), Joe Westwood (Richards 6), Aneurin Owen, Huw Anderson, Tinus de Beer, Rhodri Williams (Armstrong 51); Wyn Jones (Martinez 43), Brodie Coghlan (Burrows 61), Chris Coleman (Lewis 52 (Coleman 68)), Matthew Screech (Lewis-Hughes 61), Ben Carter, Ryan Woodman, Thomas Young (Beddall 65), Aaron Wainwright
Replacements: Oli Burrows, Rodrigo Martinez, Dillon Lewis, Shane Lewis-Hughes, Harry Beddall, Niall Armstrong, Cai Evans, David Richards
Ospreys Rugby: Jack Walsh, Dan Kasende, Phil Cokanasiga, Max Nagy, Iestyn Hopkins, Dan Edwards, Reuben Morgan-Williams; Gareth Thomas, Dewi Lake, Tom Botha, Rhys Davies, James Fender, Huw Sutton, Harri Deaves, Ross Moriarty
Replacements: Lewis Lloyd, Garyn Phillips, Ben Warren, Morgan Morse, Jac Morgan, Luke Davies, Evardi Boshoff, Luke Morgan
Referee: Ben Breakspear (WRU, 13th game)
Attendance: 5,511
