Newport Gwent Dragons have boosted their hopes of progressing from the group stages of the LV= Cup, but needed to see off a dramatic second-half comeback to beat the Ospreys 51-35.
Rhys Jones got the visitors off to the perfect start at Bridgend's Brewery Field by slotting a penalty before outside centre Ross Wardle bundled over in the eighth minute as the Dragons quickly opened up a 10-0 lead.
That lead was extended further when back-rower Lewis Evans scored two more tries for Newport.
Jones added another three points as the Dragons threatened to finish the game as a contest before the half-time whistle.
Such was the away side's dominance that they were able to wrap a try-scoring bonus point on the half-hour mark through prop Cory Hill as the Ospreys struggled to find a response. The hosts' cause was further hindered by Rory Thornton's yellow card on 29 minutes.
As the half-time whistle approached, scrum-half Jonathan Evans crossed over the whitewash for the Dragons as they reached the interval with a 41-0 advantage.
Cory Hill crossed for another score to extend the Dragons' lead to 48 points, but the Ospreys produced a second-half fightback with tries from Hanno Dirksen, Dafydd Howells and replacement Cai Griffiths, giving the hosts faint hope of an unlikely victory. The Ospreys were then awarded a penalty try on 66 minutes as the gap closed to 51-28.
With Dorian Jones in the sin-bin for his part in the penalty try, Ospreys capitalised through Asiea Natoga's try to reduce the deficit to just 16 points.
However, the Dragons were able to see out the final minutes and pick their first LV= Cup win of the season.
Chris O'Keefe
