We look back in the archives to the 2014/15 season when Dragons surged into the European Challenge Cup last four by battling to overcome Cardiff Blues on home soil…
Dragons 25 Cardiff Blues 21 - Saturday, April 4th, 2015
Dragons clinched a fantastic win in the Welsh derby battle in the European Challenge Cup quarter-finals at Rodney Parade against Cardiff Blues.
The Men of Gwent withstood an almighty comeback from the Blues with just five minutes left on the clock and ended up with the spoils as they took the away a narrow and memorable win.
Dragons came out of the starting blocks very slowly as Blues went on the attack as soon as the whistle was blown.
With a charge down on Jason Tovey’s kick the Blues were playing with an edge as they made their way closer to the Dragons try line.
It was Josh Navidi who was stopped just short of the line by the Dragons defence which held strong until scrum-half Lloyd Williams sniped through for a try within the opening five minutes of the game. Gareth Anscombe converted the try.
Unfortunately for the Dragons, lock Andrew Coombs was taken off injured in the 12th minute and, with no second row on the bench, James Thomas moved next to Cory Hill as Taulupe Faletau came onto the pitch.
Cardiff Blues moved further in front in the 25thminute as Anscombe found a gap in the defence and crossed the whitewash. He added the conversion to his own try and the Blues were in a comfortable lead.
With just five minutes left on the clock in the first half, Dragons knew that they needed to add points to their score before the whistle for half time blew.
And it was Hallam Amos who came to their rescue as he darted through the away defence to go over. After much deliberation from the TMO the try was awarded and Tom Prydie converted the score.
The second half saw another injury to the Dragons forwards, this time it was Thomas who had to be helped off with Nic Cudd coming on.
Replacement Cudd was straight into the action as he went over for the Dragons second score, which put them into the lead. Prydie failed to convert as he hit the post which meant that the home side had a lead of just one point 15-14.
Dragons were forcing Blues to scramble in defence as the home side added pressure at scrum time. Navidi passed the ball out the Lloyd Williams who attempted to kick away, but he was charged down by scrum half Jonathan Evans.
This resulted in a race to the ball only for Williams to pull on Evans’ shirt, resulting in a yellow card and a penalty try for the Dragons, which was converted by Prydie.
After a missed penalty from Prydie, Dorian Jones took over the kicking duties and slotted a kick in the 67th minute to make it 25-14 to the hosts.
However, the visitors were not finished as they slipped through the home defence once again and Navidi made it over the try line. Anscombe converted which moved the scores to 25-21 with five minutes left to play.
Fortunately for the home side the visitors from the capital could not find their way over again and it was Jack Dixon who gained possession and kicked the ball out as time was called on a dramatic game.
Dragons: Jason Tovey, Tom Prydie, Pat Leach, Jack Dixon, Hallam Amos, Dorian Jones, Jonathan Evans; Phil Price, T Rhys Thomas (c), Brok Harris, Andrew Coombs, Cory Hill, James Thomas, James Benjamin
Cardiff Blues: Dan Fish, Alex Cuthbert, Gavin Evans, Tavis Knoyle, Richard Smith, Gareth Anscombe, Lloyd Williams; Gethin Jenkins, Matthew Rees (c), Scott Andrews, Jarrad Hoeata, Lou Reed, Josh Turnbull, Sam Warburton, Josh Navidi
Referee: JP Doyle
Man-of-the-Match: Thomas Rhys Thomas
The Men of Gwent withstood an almighty comeback from the Blues with just five minutes left on the clock...
