Dragons coach Darren Edwards praises his troops (From Free Press Series)

Dragons coach Darren Edwards praises his troops

9:00am Tuesday 12th February 2013 in Sport By Iwan Davies

NEWPORT Gwent Dragons head coach Darren Edwards is urging his players to maintain their winning habit against Glasgow Warriors after chalking up their third successive victory.

They really have got the monkey off their backs in recent weeks after turning the corner with last month’s 18-14 LV= Cup win over the Ospreys.

They then comfortably beat London Welsh away in the same competition before showing great character to overturn a 14-0 deficit and beat Treviso on Friday.

That was the Gwent region’s first PRO12 triumph since they overcame Connacht 14-3 at Rodney Parade at the end of November.

For Edwards, their good form is something they had been threatening to do for some time after snatching defeat from the jaws of victory following agonising setbacks to Cardiff Blues, Bayonne and Wasps.

“Beating Treviso is something to build on,” he said. “We were showing good signs of performance over the Christmas period into January into our European games, but the results weren’t going our way.

“That’s what needed to change and we need to keep this momentum now.”

The Dragons played exceptionally well in the second half against Treviso and, despite the fact they bombed several try-scoring chances, Edwards is pleased they created so many openings.

“There were a lot of opportunities left out there in terms of scoring tries but I’m pleased we are creating chances because without that there’s no way of scoring.

“I am pleased with the way our backs put some width to our game and to see some of our strike runners have a go at people.”