Boss Dean Ryan praised the manner in which is Dragons battled both the elements and Glasgow Warriors in a 34-19 defeat in the Guinness PRO14 at a windswept Scotstoun Stadium.
Rhodri Williams (2) and Ashton Hewitt grabbed tries in Scotland as Dragons dug deep and impressed for long spells in horrendous weather conditions that saw the venue battered by high winds and heavy rain.
Glasgow eventually wrapped up a bonus point win to boost their play-off hopes.
But Ryan refused to be downbeat after his young team went toe-to-toe with the hosts and pushed them all the way.
“I thought, after five weeks of not doing anything, we were right there,” he said.
“Defensively, we knew we would need to put in a big shift in the first 40 minutes, I couldn’t have asked for anything more from them.
“It was harder playing with the wind against a Glasgow side that had a lot of confidence to keep hold of the ball.
“That is a side that is very confident and we were probably a bit too inexperienced to hold that back. We let them out two or three times which is disappointing.”
Ryan was left disappointed with a key moment just after the half hour mark in Scotland when Lloyd Fairbrother and Oli Kebble were yellow carded and Glasgow awarded a penalty that they scored from.
“We had a strike to the face, which is a red card, and that was the last event, which means it is our penalty,” said Ryan.
“That (penalty) goes to the corner, it goes to seven points, and effectively a seven-point game right to the end.
“I can’t make sense of that. The impact on a game with the weather conditions we had was poor.”
However, the Director of Dragons Rugby refused to let the moment detract from the away performance.
“It was a great shift from us with a really young group of men against a very confident and competent Glasgow side - that is the headline,” he said.
“Let other people deal with how people arrive at decisions like that, which had a huge impact on the game.
“We have two or three guys in the team with very little PRO14 games and probably five or six who are under 21,” he added.
“For them to be that competitive, and actually only be floored due a little bit of naivety in how to hold Glasgow out, was pleasing.
“I’m always pleased with this group. I am challenging to them because I want then to learn and I want them to learn fast.
“Sometimes it’s hard when we get some of the things that happened today which are out of our control.”
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“I am always pleased with this group... I am challenging to them because I want then to learn and I want them to learn fast...
