The Men of Gwent failed to back-up their impressive boxing day triumph over the Blues as a Cory Allen try and six points from the boot of Gareth Anscombe were enough to clinch a tense 11-9 victory at Rodney Parade. But Dragons boss Jones says his side are still on course to reach their long-term objectives.
He said: ”We are still concentrating on our long-term objectives in turning the Dragons around to be successful. Today was a realisation that we’ve still got work to do but we are moving in the right direction.
“We are disappointed to lose but were aware of how tough it would be in back-to-back local derbies. It was a fight, both teams tried to be positive and play a bit of rugby but scrum time was probably 25 to 30 minutes of the game.”
The Dragons travel to the Liberty Stadium on Sunday, where they will try to clinch their first win for three years against the Ospreys. They pushed Steve Tandy’s men all the way when the two sides met earlier in the season, but they could not stop their rivals powering to a 17-15 win.
And Jones is hoping his man can make the most of their opportunities when they take-on the PRO12 league leaders on Sunday December 11.
He said: “We didn’t take our chances when they came our way. We missed a kick in front of the posts, lost a tap and go on the line and Matthew Pewtner’s try was disallowed for obstruction. That’s the game. One day it’s with you and the other day it’s not.”
