NEWPORT Gwent Dragons will head for Belfast on the back of a pre-season defeat to Exeter but will take more encouragement from their clash with last year's Aviva Premiership runners-up than the scoreline suggests.

It was a game that was well-contested for an hour at Rodney Parade before the Chiefs flexed their muscles in the final quarter, racking up a total of five tries ahead of their league opener against Wasps.

Dragons head coach Kingsley Jones spoke about the desire to foster a winning habit at Rodney Parade after the friendly success against Cardiff Blues.

That failed to materialise but neither did a one-sided affair against a formidable Chiefs side that made it to Twickenham last season only to run into European champs Saracens.

In some ways it was the haves against the have-nots – Exeter brought Lions lock Geoff Parling on while Ashley Sweet came off the Dragons' bench following his move from Ebbw Vale – but it was a useful exercise for the Dragons ahead of Ulster next Friday with the glorious conditions allowing them to show some nice attacking shape with runners going hard on shoulders.

There was plenty of breakdown menace and the defence was given a useful workout by the impressive Chiefs.

The scrum was an area of concern, but imposing Exeter cause plenty of sides problems in that department, while the reception of restarts needs to be worked on.

The management team probably already had an XV pencilled in for Ireland with captain Lewis Evans, unavailable because of a wedding, sure to come into the back row while South African duo Brok Harris and Rynard Landman will come into the tight five if, as expected, they overcome niggles.

But those that took to the field against the Chiefs will have given a nudge to Kingsley Jones and his coaches with Ollie Griffiths looking lively at blindside rather than openside while both Matthew Screech and Cory Hill, likely to be playing for one spot if Landman's ok, put themselves around.

When it came to the new boys in the backs, Nick Macleod was assured at 10, centre Sam Beard showed some classy touches on his first appearance after being hindered by a hip problem while strong-running wing Pat Howard is inked in on the wing.

The Dragons made a perfect start to cross for a try with 90 seconds on the clock, but only after soaking up Exeter pressure from the kick-off.

A poor pass in midfield was hacked on by flanker Griffiths and the covering England fly-half Henry Slade was scragged inside his 22. Playing with penalty advantage, Macleod found Howard unmarked down the left then converted expertly for a 7-0 lead.

Seconds after missing with a penalty from inside his own half, full-back and long-range kicker Carl Meyer made it 10-0 from the tee only for an avoidable offside penalty to swiftly allow Exeter to go for the corner.

The well-drilled Chiefs hammered away at the line to draw in defenders and then calmly shifted the ball wide right for wing Olly Woodburn to canter over and make it 10-5 after 12 minutes.

The Dragons were looking pretty sharp in attack, aided by perfect conditions, and inched to 13-5 through Macleod in the 19th minute.

Back came the Chiefs and a midfield burst allowed them to once again cross down the right where the best efforts of centre Jack Dixon couldn't deny England hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie. Slade once again pushed the conversion.

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It was a fierce, open contest – just what was required ahead of the fixtures against Ulster and Wasps – and it was fair that the teams headed to the sheds on level terms thanks to a Slade penalty when the Chiefs could easily have opted to keep putting the squeeze on with their dominant scrum.

They did, however, get try number three swiftly after the restart when the deadly combination of powerful running and good handling saw England centre Ollie Devoto go over down the right for a score that Slade finally converted to make it 20-13.

Macleod settled the Dragons with another penalty to make it 20-16 but the Chiefs kept coming and had plenty of firepower waiting on their bench.

And the visitors stretched clear after 62 minutes after being the beneficiaries of a gift; Woodburn running in from 60 metres after picking off Macleod, who had only just picked himself off the floor after a hefty collision.

After referee Nigel Owens was replaced – with ice put on his right thigh - fly-half Gareth Steenson converted for 27-16 and chance of a morale-boosting victory had gone for the Dragons.

They did, however, not want plenty of good work to go to waste so it was a shame that a turnover in enemy territory led to Exeter going the distance and Woodburn completing his hat-trick.

Dragons: C Meyer (R Jones 73), A Warren, S Beard (G Gasson 73), J Dixon (C Davies 77), P Howard, N Macleod (A O'Brien 63), S Pretorius (L Jones 69), S Hobbs (T Davies 40), R Thomas (R Buckley 58), C Mitchell (L Fairbrother 40), M Screech (N Crosswell 40-42, A Sweet 55), C Hill, O Griffiths, N Cudd, E Jackson (H Keddie 63).

Scorers: tries – P Howard; conversion – N Macleod; penalties – C Meyer, N Macleod (2)

Exeter: P Dollman, O Woodburn, O Devoto, S Hill, I Whitten, H Slade, W Chudley, B Moon, L Cowan-Dickie, H Williams, M Lees, D Welch, D Armand (captain), J Salvi, T Waldrom.

Replacements used: J Yeandle, A Hepburn, G Holmes, G Parling, D Dennis, D Lewis, G Steenson, J Short

Scorers: tries – O Woodburn (3), L Cowan-Dickie, O Devoto, ; conversions – H Slade, G Steenson; penalty – H Slade

Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales, Gwyn Morris 63)

Attendance: 3,384