THE Dragons might have missed out on a rare away victory but Bernard Jackman was quick to highlight the positives following a narrow 32-27 loss at Newcastle Falcons.

In their Challenge Cup opener at Kingston Park, Jackman’s side looked set for another away-day struggle when they trailed 15-6 at the break having rarely looked like scoring a try.

But they burst out of the blocks in the second-half with tries from Rynard Landman and Ashton Hewitt to turn the game on its head.

Pat Howard chipped in with a third try as the lead changed twice more in the final stages, and although Mark Wilson’s try ended up giving Newcastle the win, Jackman was pleased to take a point from the game.

He said: “Obviously I’m disappointed we lost but I think there is a huge amount of positives.

"A losing bonus point here could be massively important at the end of the group stage and we have given ourselves a fighting chance in a tough group.

“The group that played in this game went to Ulster a few weeks ago and shipped about 50 points and we were very disappointed, so what I liked about the result is the reaction from the lads.

“We are looking for improvement, we want to be able to go anywhere in Europe and be competitive and a performance like this one gives you hope that we’re on the right track.”

Gavin Henson has been the Dragons’ best signing in the early weeks of this season, slotting in at fly-half to great effect.

However, this game gave Angus O’Brien the opportunity to pull the strings in the No.10 jersey and he seized his chance.

So impressive was he, that despite the loss, he was named man of the match as he finished the game with ten points and a couple of try assists.

And while Henson remains first choice at Rodney Parade, Jackman was pleased to see that he has greater depth at the position ahead of next week’s trip to Enisei in Siberia.

He added: “Gavin is our first choice for the first few games but to see someone like Angus (O'Brien) control the game, kicking so well and his play out of hand it was excellent.

“It’s good to see because he is young. We need two world class tens and with Gavin’s (Henson) age profile we may look to someone like Angus to take over the mantle.”