Late agony for Dragons
DRAGONS’ record points-scorer Jason Tovey celebrated his 28th birthday in style by condemning his former team to an astonishing defeat at Myreside.
The men of Gwent had led 20-3 with just seven minutes remaining, but thought they had ended an away win drought stretching two years and a month in the Guinness Pro12 and eased off.
Sin-binnings for scrum-half Charlie Davies and flanker Nic Cudd didn’t help matters as Tovey masterminded an incredible comeback.
The outside-half created tries for wings Blair Kinghorn and Damien Hoyland, converting both, and they snatched victory from the last play of the game when captain Grant Gilchrist crashed over from a tap-penalty. Tovey had put Edinburgh ahead
It means the Dragons have lost 19 in a row on the road in all tournaments and remain 10th in the Pro12 table. with a penalty and their early dominance nearly brought a try. But flanker Viliame Mata was bundled into touch in the corner by back-rower Ollie Griffiths and Davies.
Dragons took the lead against the run of play with a peach of a try following a run from full-back Carl Meyer before captain Lewis Evans, right-wing Adam Hughes and centres Jack Dixon and Sam Beard handled to put left-wing Pat Howard over on the overlap.
Outside-half Angus O’Brien splendidly converted from wide out and added a penalty on the stroke of halftime.
Tovey had been injured during the build-up to Dragons’ try and replaced by Scottish International Duncan Weir but was given the allclear by Edinburgh’s medical staff to return for the second half.
But the Dragons continued in the ascendancy and scored another super try following a burst from Cudd.
The ball was recycled and O’Brien found Dixon, who stepped back inside to check the home defence before passing to Beard for the centre to put Meyer in at the corner.
O’Brien again converted from the most difficult of angles and they had built a 14-point buffer. However, Edinburgh somehow found a way of ending their nine-match losing streak. Edinburgh: Tries: Kinghorn, Hoyland, Gilchrist; cons: Tovey (3); pen: Tovey. Dragons: Tries: Howard, Meyer; cons: O’Brien (2); pens: O’Brien (2).