Dragons played an hour of the league encounter a man down – after Lloyd Fairbrother was sent off in the first half and Zane Kirchner sin binned early on.
But a spirited and full-blooded display form the Dragons saw them mount a stunning late fight-back with Jarryd Sage’s try drawing them level with seven minutes to go at the Arms Park.
However, Gareth Anscombe’s penalty – with the last kick of the game – saw Dragons denied a draw in cruel circumstances as they had to settle for a losing bonus point in a 19-16 defeat.
“It was a very pleasing performance from us but a disappointing result, I thought that we deserved more from the game,” said Jones.
“It was a slightly contentious penalty to end the game and that was gut-wrenching for the team and management.
“In the first half the penalty count was something like seven to one and playing 16 minutes with 14 men is not good enough from us and we need to address that.
“It’s alright being emotionally at a level, which the players were throughout the game, but we need to look at the discipline side. It was potentially overemotional.
“We take a huge amount from the performance and everyone watching that would have been very proud of it, I certainly am. The players put in a massive shift.”
Dragons now switch their attention to a second festive derby and Ospreys on December 30 at Rodney Parade.
And Jones believes if Dragons can replicate the passion and desire they showed against Blues then they can get that much sought after derby day win.
“That performance was one of our best of the season given the circumstances, we were right there throughout the game,” he said.
“We will pick all the positives out of it – of which there were huge amounts – and take that into next week against the Ospreys.
“They did everything I asked of them, I asked them to go toe-to-toe with the Blues and express themselves. They certainly did that and I am proud of the performance.
“We will take the positives while the main negative was our discipline in the first half; cut out some of those errors put that level of performance in and a don’t see why we can’t get more positive results.”
In terms of his own role, Jones added: “I am taking it week by week. I was hugely pleased by the performance against the Blues, so that’s a bit of a high for me, but I am sure there will be plenty of lows as well.
“I will to ride on the back of that and see what we can do against the Ospreys.”
CLICK HERE to secure your tickets for the festive fixture against the Ospreys at Rodney Parade on 30 December with Early Bird tickets on sale until Christmas Eve.
