Dragons looking for revenge on Parade as Warriors come calling (From Free Press Series)

Dragons looking for revenge on Parade as Warriors come calling

8:00am Tuesday 12th February 2013 in Sport By Iwan Davies

DRAGONS v GLASGOW (Friday, KO 7.05)

NEWPORT Gwent Dragons captain Lewis Evans is eager to avenge November’s hammering in Glas-gow when the Warr-iors come to Rodney Parade for Friday night’s return fixture.

They host the flying Scotsmen looking for “retribution” after being humiliated 37-6 in the league at Scotstoun.

The Dragons are on a roll after three successive wins, beating the Ospreys and London Welsh before putting Treviso away in last Friday’s hard-earned, gutsy 23-14 victory.

The Warriors, second in the PRO12 table, are also on a good run of form after upsetting Northampton in the Heineken Cup and battling to a fine 36-20 away win over Zebre on Sunday – a game in which ex-Cross Keys hooker Gerwyn Price made a fine debut for the visitors.

Back rower Evans expressed how important the Gwent region’s triumph over Treviso was last week, in which they came back to score 23 unanswered points after trailing 14-0.

“A win makes all the difference and there were a lot of smiles on faces in that changing room,” the 25-year-old said.

“It was a third win in a row and we feel we have a lot of positives to take from that – it’s a pretty pleased camp at the moment.”

Referring to how unlucky the Dragons were in just failing to claim the scalps of Cardiff Blues, Bayonne and Wasps in heartbreaking defeats recently, Lewis said: “When you start winning, people start to change their opinions about you.

“Individuals have come through those defeats and that’s a big positive because as a team we’ve probably come very close to winning in the past. We’ve got a bit of momentum now.”

Lewis revealed how the win over Treviso, the first league success since November, was at least partly motivated by a desire for revenge after the Italian side hammered them 32-13 earlier in the season.

They will be looking to do the same against the Warriors. “There was a bit of retribution for Treviso and they are, especially on their own pitch, a very good side,” he said.

“They’ve caused problems for many teams and we knew that and I suppose there’s a bit of retribution for Glasgow as well.

“We went up there and produced a very poor performance from everyone I think because no one played particularly well and we’ve just got a point to prove.

“Glasgow two years ago were the same as us, they were in the bottom half of the table and they are up there second in the league now.

“It shows just what sides can be capable of in turning things around in two seasons.

“When they come here we are going to give them as much pressure as they gave us and hopefully we’ll get the win this time.”