The rain-soaked clash was decided by a brace of tries from Stuart Olding as the Northern Irishmen ran out 23-6 victors.
Jones also saw his injury crisis worsen as Ashley Smith pulled up lame in the warm-up and was forced out of their sixth defeat in seven matches. But the Dragons boss was happy with his side’s plucky performance.
He said: “It was always going to be a difficult night for us and losing Ashley Smith before kick-off was another kick in the teeth for us. It was a game that should have been well within our reach but on the night we just weren’t good enough.
“There were some really good performances but we failed to manage the game as well as Ulster. But I was pleased with the spirit; we showed the attitude and desire to fight hard.”
Dragons’ injury worries show no sign of ending with fly-half Jason Tovey, flanker Lewis Evans, hooker Rhys Thomas and prop Boris Stankovich all forced from the field in Belfast.
They are already operating with blindside James Thomas as a makeshift lock in the absence of Andrew Coombs, Ian Gough, Cory Hill, Matthew Screech and Joe Davies while Rhys Williams, who is on loan from Carmarthen Quins, is their only fit specialist senior centre. And Jones is eyeing potential new arrivals to stem their fitness crisis.
He said: “Our kicking game was off, that meant we were on the back foot and didn’t get field position to put pressure on them.
“We had to bring two teenagers off the bench in Ollie Griffiths and Barney Nightingale but showed lots of guts until the end and didn’t fold under relentless pressure.”
“If we can get a lock and centre back would be a big help but at the moment it seems like it would be a big positive just to get 15 fit guys out there.”
