Carnegie in charge after blast from boss Lowes

FOUR second-half tries after a half-time talking-to allowed Carnegie to complete the double over the Dragons despite slipping to a 14-0 interval deficit.

Dragons, beaten 43-22 in Yorkshire last weekend and still without a win in the Cup this season, hit the front after only five minutes when centre Connor Edwards touched down.

On the stroke of halftime his midfield partner, Jarryd Sage, marked his Dragons debut with a try that again Angus O’Brien converted.

But the visitors got their act together in the second half and used their powerful driving maul to haul themselves back into the contest. Trystan Lloyd was the first to convert a driving lineout and then Matt Smith followed suit to cut the gap to four points.

The visitors made it three tries in 15 minutes when they hit the front on the hour when replacement No.9 Oliver Fox scored. His try came while the Dragons were one man down following Josh Skinner’s yellow card for a high tackle.

O’Brien knocked over a penalty to restore the Dragons’ lead, but a fantastic solo try from Darren Atkins sealed the win.

Carnegie head coach James Lowes said: “I thought we were pretty rubbish in the first half. I said a few harsh words at half-time and second half I thought we were better.”

Dragons counterpart James Chapron said: “I thought on average we were the better team.”