Edinburgh shock Dragons with late penalty

Newport-Gwent Dragons 16 Edinburgh 17

A dramatic last-gasp penalty by Brendan Laney gave Edinburgh a shock victory at Rodney Parade as the Scottish side relieved the Newport-Gwent Dragons of their 100% Celtic League home record.

It was an uninspiring contest between two below par sides and Laney’s late kick climaxed a miserable night for the Welshmen, whose title ambitions were dealt a crushing blow.

Both teams laboured to warm to the task in dry but bitterly cold conditions, with a brace of penalties by Craig Warlow giving the Dragons the initiative.

Play was hugely short on quality, especially in a drab error-strewn opening half that lacked any attacking spark, with neither try line seriously threatened.

Even with Edinburgh prop Craig Smith in the sin bin the lacklustre Dragons could not muster a cutting edge.

The visitors suffered a big blow at the end of the first half when they lost the mainstay of their attack, Simon Webster, carried off with a knee injury.

A stern dressing room lecture by Dragons coach Chris Anderson had the desired effect as they finally breached the Edinburgh defence to score an important try.

It came seven minutes after the restart, just after the visitors had been reduced to 14 men for a second 10-minute spell, with their talisman skipper Todd Blackadder yellow-carded.

The crucial touchdown came from Dragons skipper Jason Forster, who finished a series of close-range attacks for Warlow to add the conversion.

But that was all the Welsh could muster as the Scots responded after replacement Rob Dewey led a breakaway raid for Laney to send full-back Derrick Lee over for a try, converted by Laney.

Then number eight David Callam struck a massive blow for the visitors as he slipped through a gap in a wilting Dragons defence to cross for a try.

The conversion by Laney gave Edinburgh a 14-13 lead moving into the last 10 minutes.

As the result looked evenly balanced Warlow threw the Dragons a lifeline five minutes from time with a simple penalty after Laney had been penalised.

But in a dramatic finale villain turned hero as Laney stepped up to snatch an unexpected victory for Edinburgh with a long-range penalty in the eighth minute of added time.