Lewis Evans: Early try for Dragons
The Dragons made it back-to-back wins in the Amlin Challenge Cup after beating Perpignan 23-13 at Rodney Parade on Thursday.
The hosts outscored the French club two tries to one, with the visitors bagging a consolation five-pointer at the death to give the scoreline a bit more respect.
The victory takes the Dragons into pole position in Pool 4, as the Welsh side move five points clear at the top of table.
It was a dominant display from the home side, who opened a 7-0 lead early on in the match thanks to a try by loose forward Lewis Evans which was set up and then converted by fly-half Jason Tovey.
Tovey then added a penalty ten minutes later to stretch his side's lead.
The Dragons kept the pressure on and were over for try number two, this time Adam Jones touching down and again Tovey adding the conversion.
Perpignan pivot James Hook grabbed three points back for his side just before the break with a penalty of his own to take the scores to 17-3 in favour of the Dragons at half-time.
Hook then struck first after the interval kicking his second penalty after 48 minutes. Perpignan's pack tried their upmost to drive their team back into the game, but couldn't break down the Dragons spirit.
Tovey kept the scoreboard ticking over with two quick-fire drop-goals to stretch his side's advantage even further before Adrien Plante crossed for a late consolation for the visitors.
Meanwhile, Bayonne also remain unbeaten in the competition after sweeping past Bordeaux-Begles 20-3 at Stade Jean Dauger.
Comments
jontheref says...
Well done Dragons, do the double over Exeter, and you can start to dream. Big task there.
Referee Patterson must dislike the French more than the Welsh,as his inconsistencies were multiple.
Biggest was his PK for not releasing after a yellow card beconing high tackle form Brew, shoulder and bicep conecting with head, which lead to one of Tovey's drop goals. This effectively robbed Perpignan of their slim chance of a bonus point.
But what else do we expect from this Norhern Irish/Scottish offical?
Posted 09:23 18th November 2011