Dragons 22-23 Scarlets

So the bet lost - The -1 on the Hadicap was bang on, resulting in a draw for us.

As an aside, I am a Newport Gwent Dragons fan and I am totally gutted and exhausted by the result. God that was a painful night and since I drowned my sorrows in Guiness last night I am suffering here today at work:

Match Report:

A DEVASTATING three-try salvo in six minutes swung this rousing Magners League encounter decisively the way of the Scarlets.They were 16-3 down at half-time after sustaining a right old battering from a Dragons side breathing fire.But the Scarlets caught the Gwent region napping at the start of the second half with Darren Daniel, Gavin Evans and Ceiron Thomas all crossing.Ceri Sweeney briefly regained the lead for the Dragons with a double penalty strike before Stephen Jones hit back to move the Scarlets to second in the table behind champions Ulster.The Dragons picked up a losing bonus point to climb three places to third, but will be bitterly disappointed at letting this one slip after being so dominant before the break.It was a riveting encounter with the only disappointment being a crowd of 5,574.

Scarlets made their intentions clear from the opening scrum of the match when outside-half Jones dodged past Sweeney.They were pulled back - harshly - for an alleged forward pass but the move emphasised they were prepared to attack the channel which they had expected to be filled by former player Mike Hercus.However, Dragons coach Paul Turner had left the United States international out knowing that the Scarlets would like to expose his defensive limitations.But the debt-ridden West Wales region had made other plans - they knew Hercus wasn't playing hours before the Dragons team became public knowledge.Sweeney switched from inside centre to outside-half with youngster Ashley Smith coming in at No 12.Turner made four changes, one positional, from the side beaten 32-25 in a thriller by league champions Ulster last weekend.Wales cap Steve Jones replaced Ben Daly at hooker back from neck trouble and Joe Bearman stepped into the back row for the injured Nic Fitisemanu.Sweeney fired them into the lead with a 10th-minute penalty after the Scarlets were caught offside following a line-out.Jones levelled matters at the quarter of an hour mark, the Dragons penalised for encroaching. Home prop Adam Black had Scarlets tighthead Deacon Manu tied up in knots and the New Zealander was penalised for collapsing the scrum.Worse was to follow for the Scarlets, young lock Lou Reed being sin-binned for pulling down a ferocious driving maul from the Dragons.Sweeney just failed to punish them with a long-range penalty, but the Dragons were fired up.Scarlets coach Phil Davies had made five changes from the XV that beat Glasgow last weekend.Ceiron Thomas came in for Martyn Thomas at full-back, Matthew Watkins for Dafydd James at wing, Manu for John Davies at tight-head, Easterby for Inoke Afeaki at blindside flanker and Alix Popham for Nathan Thomas at No 8.They suffered another blow when centre Regan King went off with blood streaming from his face in the 27th minute.And the Dragons fans went wild with joy following a stunning strike two minutes later.Acting captain Colin Charvishad a major part in it.He made the initial incursion before throwing a super pass to Sweeney. The Dragons orchestrator found Nathan Brew with a cut-out pass and the centre sprinted 25m before stretching for the touchdown when challenged. Sweeney converted from wide out and they were 10-3 up.Phil Davies showed his ruthless side by hauling suspect scrummager Manu off in the 37th minute, sending veteran John Davies on to shore it up.Sweeney landed a monster penalty and they led by 10 points.

The ferocity of their tackling had the crowd wincing with Aled Brew's big hit being followed by a pile-driving effort from flanker Jamie Ringer on Watkins a couple of seconds later.They went off to a tremendous ovation as Sweeney extended their lead to 16-3 on the stroke of half-time with a wonderful long-range drop-goal that literally brought the house down.Turner's men, with its pack, Sweeney, rookie scrum-half Alex Walker and the Brew brothers at the forefront of an intense effort were good value.Scarlets were reeling and in desperate need of regrouping. Catalysts Dwayne Peel and Jones were being hunted down by a rampant Dragons pack and had no space or time to operate.Turner had identified Peel and Jones as key men and the plan he concocted to contain them had been carried out to perfection before the break.

The half-time pep talk from Phil Davies saw the Scarlets explode out of the blocks.Jones was heavily involved in the build-up that led to the league's top scorer Daniel increasing his tally to five.Then their searing pace saw them score from 80m following a turnover. Full-back Ceiron Thomas showed great pace to escape and King managed to get his pass away to scorer Gavin Evans as Craig Warlow clung on.Their next came after King beat off an attempted tackle by Gareth Wyatt in midfield. He had men to spare outside him and Thomas had a simple run-in. Jones, though, only managed to convert one of them.The shell-shocked Dragons trailed by four points after an amazing turn-around.Sweeney reduced the arrears to a point with a penalty, his third, in the 52nd minute but was wide with a not-too-difficult chance to put them back into the lead three minutes later.Dragons team manager Jim McCreedy was angered after Ringer sustained a nasty wound to his nose, being ordered to his technical box by the fourth official and claret was splashed on the forehead of Iestyn Thomas as the Scarlets prop became the third player off for repairs.Sweeney regained the lead for the Gwent region in the 65th minute after Charvis was taken out off the ball but Jones replied a minute later.Dragons surprisingly put a kickable penalty into the corner rather than go for goal, but the Scarlets cleared.