NEWPORT Gwent Dragons’ dreams of European Challenge Cup glory came to an end at the Altrad Stadium in Montpellier this evening.

The Dragons actually outscored their illustrious hosts by two tries to one but the home side’s dominance up front had the biggest say on determining the outcome of this semi-final.

As you might expect, the pressure in the opening few minutes came from the hosts but that was weathered by the Dragons and they were handed the first chance of points.

Hallam Amos was taken out in the air just outside the Montpellier 22, however, Dorian Jones missed the resulting penalty from point-blank range.

The home crowd were clearly pleased with Jones’ inaccuracy and they were lifted again soon after when their team threatened down the left flank.

However, the Dragons were certainly giving as good as they got, Tyler Morgan showing some deft hands in midfield before the visitors conceded a penalty at scrum time.

Moments after Dixon was introduced, Montpellier took the lead courtesy of a Demetri Catrakilis penalty.

Montpellier supporters were up in arms 25 minutes in, and judging by the replay on the big screen they had every right to be.

Jones appeared to barge a support runner off the ball as the Montpellier man was about to gather an offload.

Anyway, referee Wayne Barnes let play go on and it was from the next passage of play that the hosts doubled their lead.

The Dragons were guilty of not releasing the tackled player on the floor and Catrakilis stepped up to make it 6-0.

The penalties were soon starting to mount up and from a quickly taken one by scrum-half Benoit Paillaugue, only a superb Adam Hughes tackle stopped Marvin O’Connor getting to the line.

The ball was spread out to Benjamin Fall, he fed Jim Nagusa and Pierre Spies was inches away from crossing the whitewash but was held up.

Barnes had been playing an advantage and Catrakilis duly kicked his third three-pointer of the encounter, while Paillaugue added another from halfway on 36 minutes.

That last effort came after the Dragons’ scrum was pinged yet again, and that facet of the game was really proving their undoing.

Adam Warren’s day came to an end six minutes before the break as he limped off with what looked like an ankle problem.

Jack Dixon, who had come on temporarily for Warren earlier in the half, was his permanent replacement.

While the scrum had been the Welsh region’s Achilles heel, they actually forced Montpellier into conceding a penalty on the stroke of half-time.

But again, the Dragons weren’t able to seize their opportunity and full-back Carl Meyer saw his attempt go wide of the posts.

In fairness to the Dragons, other than that chance for Spies, they didn’t really look like being breached in the first period, it was simply their indiscretions, particularly in the set-piece, that saw them trailing 12-0 at the break.

There was so very nearly a superb start to the second half for the Dragons when Nagusa failed to gather the ball right on his own line and then had to wriggle free of the chasers to allow Francois Steyn to clear.

Everyone at Rodney Parade knows how much Taulupe Faletau is going to be missed when he departs for Bath, and he again showed his knack of getting over the gainline in the face of some brutal hits from the likes of Bismarck du Plessis and Robins Tchale-Watchou.

The only problem for the Dragons was that when they did get into good positions their indiscipline left them down.

After a couple of changes for both sides, Catrakilis nailed a fourth penalty following the umpteenth Dragons scrum to go wrong.

Montpellier may have an array of talent behind the pack but they were more than content to take the points when there on offer, and with a kicker like Catrakilis, why not.

But a try seemed inevitable and it duly arrived on the hour mark.

After Meyer had been forced to slice a clearance into touch, du Plessis was the grateful recipient of a textbook catch and drive lineout move. Catrakilis converted.

At 22-0 down, the Dragons could have easily folded, but they hit straight back with a score of their own.

Meyer made the initial thrust down the left and after a few quick offloads, the final one coming from Faletau, Hallam Amos cantered over. Meyer badly miscued the conversion, but at least the visitors were on the scoreboard.

And, at the end of a quiet final quarter, the Dragons showed their never-say-die attitude yet again, Meyer cutting a superb angle to touchdown. Replacement Angus O’Brien added the extras.