Dragons get the better of Sale Sharks

Editor

The Dragons got their Challenge Cup campaign off to a fine start with a 30-12 victory over Sale Sharks at Rodney Parade on Sunday.

The home side dominated from the outset and outscored Sale four tries to two and Dorian Jones finished with a 10-point haul after kicking two penalties and two conversions.

The Welsh region made a terrific start and were rewarded with their opening try as early as the fourth minute when Ollie Griffiths crossed over for his first ever try for the Dragons.

The Dragons the next 20 minutes was an arm wrestle as both sides tried to gain the upperhand but the home side eventually gained control of proceedings when their skipper Rynard Landman scored their second try.

And their was more joy for the Dragons when Adam Hughes got over for their third try five minutes before the interval. Sale were more competitive in the second half and narrowed the gap to eight points thanks to tries by James Mitchell and their captain Jonathan Mills.

Sandwiched in between those tries was a penalty from Jones and the Dragons pivot added another three-pointer from the kicking tee in the 69th minute before Matthew Screech secured victory and a bonus point for the Dragons with their fourth try in the 75th minute.

The scorers:

For Dragons:
Tries: Griffiths, Landman, Hughes, Screech
Cons: Jones 2
Pens: Jones 2

For Sale:
Tries: Mitchell, Mills
Con: Macleod

Dragons: 15 Carl Meyer, 14 Ashton Hewitt, 13 Adam Hughes, 12 Adam Warren, 11 Nick Scott, 10 Dorian Jones, 9 Sarel Pretorius, 8 Ed Jackson, 7 Ollie Griffiths, 6 Lewis Evans, 5 Rynard Landman (c), 4 Cory Hill, 3 Shaun Knight, 2 Elliot Dee, 1 Boris Stankovich.
Replacements: 16 Rhys Buckley, 17 Phil Price, 18 Brok Harris, 19 Matthew Screech, 20 Nick Crosswell, 21 Charlie Davies, 22 Jason Tovey, 23 Ross Wardle.

Sale: 15 Tim Jeffers, 14 Tom Brady, 13 Mark Jennings, 12 Sam Bedlow, 11 Charlie Ingall, 10 Nick Macleod, 9 James Mitchell, 8 Viliami Fihaki, 7 Andrew Hughes, 6 Magnus Lund, 5 Andrei Ostrikov, 4 Jonathan Mills (c), 3 Brian Mujati, 2 Neil Briggs, 1 James Flynn
Replacements: 16 Cameron Neild, 17 Jake Pope, 18 Ross Harrison, 19 George Nott, 20 Josh Beaumont, 21 Joe Ford, 22 John O'Donnell, 23 Nev Edwards

Referee: Alexandre Ruiz (France)