From staring into the jaws of defeat at 25-13, a determined Dragons display saw them score an unanswered 14 points in the final quarter to gain a slender 2 point advantage with tries from Cory Hill and Tom Prydie, both converted by the latter.
Northampton Saints opened the scoring with a penalty kick by Will Hooley but Jason Tovey levelled with a penalty of his own making it 3-3 approaching the quarter.
The Aviva Premiership Champions gained another few points as Hooley kicked a drop goal after some pressure in the home teams’ 22.
Not long after this George Pisi crossed the try line for the opposition following a cross field kick from Luther Burrell and a neat pass from Lee Dickson sending them further into the lead.
The Saints centre was over for his second try soon after, charging down a Tovey clearance kick and racing away to the try line. Hooley added the extras to make the score 18-3.
With the first half drawing to a close the Saints were penalised for an infringement within kicking distance Tovey. He successfully put the ball between the posts to make the half time scores 18-6 keeping the Dragons within touching distance.
Half Time: Newport Gwent Dragons 6 – Northampton Saints 18
The Men of Gwent came out fighting in the second half as recently returned Aled Brew raced over the try line following a series of high kicks. Tovey converted the try to take the home team to 13 points.
It wasn’t long until the Saints added their own try of the second half with some slick handling from the visitors back line in tough conditions putting James Wilson over the try line, restoring their 12 point lead, 25-13.
The Dragons made the most out of the visitors errors in the last few minutes of the game. First came a quick break from young centre Barney Nightingale from turnover ball who offloaded to Cory Hill allowing him to cross the try line. Quickly followed by Tom Prydie who made the most of the Saints troubles under high ball to score a try of his own, Tovey converted both tries to take the Dragons 2 points ahead with just a few minutes remaining.
Some strong defensive work by the Dragons pack and a great turnover at the back of a Saints scrum saw the Dragons hold on for a victory that should give the region confidence going into their opening Pro12 fixture against Connacht in Galway.
Full Time: Newport Gwent Dragons 27 – Northampton Saints 25
Newport Gwent Dragons Squad:
Lee Byrne ©, Geraint Rhys Jones, Tom Prydie, Matthew Pewtner, Pat Leach, Tyler Morgan, Jack Dixon, Barney Nightingale, Aled Brew, Jason Tovey, Angus O’Brien, Dorian Jones, Jonathan Evans. Boris Stankovich, Owen Evans, Elliot Dee, T. Rhys Thomas, Lloyd Fairbrother, Dan Way, Dave Young, Rynard Landman, Ian Gough, Matthew Screech, Cory Hill, Andrew Coombs, Lewis Evans, Nic Cudd, Scott Matthews, Andy Powell, James Thomas.
Northampton Saints Squad:
Ben Foden, Ken Pisi, George Pisi, Luther Burrell, George North, Will Hooley, Lee Dickson, Alex Corbisiero, Dylan Hartley ©, Salesi Ma’afu, Courtney Lawes, Christian Day, Calum Clark, Tom Wood, Samu Manoa. Ross McMillan, Alex Waller, Gareth Denman, James Craig, Cam Dolan, Teimana Harrison, Jon Fisher, Kahn Fotuali’i, James Wilson, Dom Waldouck, Jamie Elliott, Howard Packman, Josh Skelcey, Sam Olver.
Referee: Ian Davies
Attendance: 2763
