Dragons................ 20pts
Conversion: Evans 39, 66
Penalty: Evans 24, 30
Ospreys..................5pts
Tries: Roberts 38, Dyer 65
DRAGONS claimed their first URC win of the season following a first half red card for try-scoring Ospreys winger Mat Protheroe.
Thrilling touchdowns from Welsh internationals Bradley Roberts and Rio Dyer, plus the boot of Cai Evans against his former team, saw the Gwent region triumph in the league at Rodney Parade for the first time since October 2022.
Their head coach Dai Flanagan said: “I am really proud of the group. We talked pre-match about taking our shackles off. We threw the ball around and we want to play that way. That needs to become our DNA.”
Ospreys boss Toby Booth said: “It’s really disappointing because we know how important Welsh derbies are and we probably didn’t show our best, let’s be honest.
“There is plenty to improve on because it was a pretty inaccurate performance. We made life very difficult for ourselves.”
The game had begun in happy fashion for Protheroe, with the former Bristol back opening the scoring with a try after just five minutes.
It was created for him by scrum-half Reuben Morgan-Williams who broke away from a ruck and opted to kick for the left corner - a move that paid off with the unmarked Protheroe able to dab down.
As the game went on, the Dragons started having joy at the scrum and that enabled them to open their account with full-back Evans slotting a penalty.
Then, on 28 minutes, came the crucial red card for Protheroe. Chasing a box kick, he made headon-head contact with Dragons fly-half Will Reed who had caught the ball.
Protheroe actually came off worse from the collision and was leaving the field after treatment when referee Ben Whitehouse brandished the red card.
