Dragons’ fire too much for Edinburgh to cope with

PRO14: Depleted visitors suffer blow as they go down at Newport Gwent

NG DRAGONS 18 EDINBURGH 12

Edinburgh suffered a Pro14 title-race blow as they were snuffed out by the Dragons.

Richard Cockerill’s men had gone into battle with a depleted line-up. And they paid the price for poor finishing at crucial moments.

Neither side could impose their authority in the scrappy early stages.

It was former Edinburgh playmaker Jason Tovey who edged the hosts ahead with a simple penalty.

Dragons continued to look the hungrier outfit and they deservedly stretched their advantage in the 24th minute when winger Jared Rosser brushed off two challenges to reach the line.

Tovey added the extras from a tricky angle.

Edinburgh then earned a series of pressure penalties in the Dragons 22 zone.

They spurned the chance of an easy three points in a bid for a touchdown.

But the gamble backfired as centre Chris Dean was controversially deemed guilty of making an illegal double movement as he crashed over.

Dean was back in the spotlight just before the break, however, to send Dougie Fife over.

Dragons snatched back the initiative after the restart with Rosser skipping over again.

Tovey stretched their lead with his second penalty.

But an opportunist Darcy Graham effort gave Edinburgh a glimmer of hope – Jaco van der Walt converting.

The visitors carved out further chances but they couldn’t turn pressure into points when it mattered most.