A spirited second-half comeback against wasn't enough as the Dragons fell to a 10th successive defeat in the United Rugby Championship against Ulster in Belfast.
Dai Flanagan's men had turned a 26-7 scoreline into a one-score gap with a couple of quickfire tries, only for Ulster to pull away again for a comfortable victory in the end. However, the Dragons were far from humiliated at Ravenhill - a welcome boost after a couple of shocking performances against Glasgow and Ospreys.
After Ulster flanker David McCann's opener, the Dragons hit back through a try from fly-half Angus O'Brien after brilliant work by Taine Basham. However, a brace of driving lineout tries from hooker Tom Stewart pushed the home side 12 points clear at the break.
And when Stewart claimed a hat-trick after half-time, the fear was another heavy defeat for the Gwent side.
However, quickfire scores by hooker Elliot Dee - on his 100th league appearance - and scrum-half Rhodri Williams saw Flanagan's side threaten a comeback.
That didn't materialise as play-off bound Ulster took control towards the end of the match, with Nick Timoney's score giving them breathing space ahead of a last-minute penalty try.
Ulster: Mike Lowry, Craig Gilroy, James Hume, Stuart McCloskey, Jacob Stockdale, Billy Burns, John Cooney; Eric O’Sullivan, Tom Stewart, Tom O’Toole, Alan O’Connor, Sam Carter, David McCann, Marcus Rea, Duane Vermeulen
Replacements: John Andrew, Andy Warwick, Jeffery Toomaga Allen, Kieran Treadwell, Nick Timoney, Nathan Doak, Stewart Moore, Ethan McIlroy
Dragons RFC: Jordan Williams, Rio Dyer, Jared Rosser, Max Clark, Ashton Hewitt, Angus O’Brien, Rhodri Williams; Rhodri Jones, Elliot Dee, Leon Brown, Ben Carter, Matthew Screech, George Nott, Taine Basham, Aaron Wainwright
Replacements: Brodie Coghlan, Josh Reynolds, Lloyd Fairbrother, Sean Lonsdale, George Young, Lewis Jones, Will Reed, Aneurin Owen
Referee: Ben Blain (Scot)
