A SECOND-HALF resurgence from the Dragons was only enough to secure a losing bonus point in their European Challenge Cup opener against Newcastle Falcons, going down 32-27 at Kingston Park.

Angus O’Brien’s lethal kicking ability shone throughout the match as the visitors scored three times off the back of kicks.

The hosts started stronger and made the first breakthrough. A few clever passes from fly-half Joel Hodgson brought the Falcons inches from the Dragons line.

A quick pick and go from hooker Rob Vickers smuggled the ball over for the try on 13 minutes, Toby Flood adding the extras.

Dragons kept within touching distance through a penalty kicked by O’Brien, but Falcons hit back with a penalty of their own making the score 10-3 to Newcastle.

Half an hour in and Newcastle conceded two penalties in quick succession, the latter allowing O’Brien to claim his second three-pointer of the game with a simple kick, the score now 10-6.

With just a few minutes to go until half-time, Falcons were in for a second try.

A slip from a retreating Will Talbot-Davies saw the Dragons lose possession dangerously close to their own line.

Quick hands from Newcastle allowed Adam Radwan to touch down in the corner.

Flood was unable to convert from the touchline.

In the final minute of the half it seemed the Dragons would be in with a try of their own, Ashton Hewitt making a break in off his wing but a knock-on from George Gasson saw the attack go dead.

The Dragons trailed 15-6 at the break.

O’Brien’s laser guided boot earned Dragons a well-placed penalty early on in the second half. However, he saw his bounce off the inside of the post. The Dragons reacted well though and smartly shipped the ball wide to break with Jared Rosser.

The centre’s inside pass put Rynard Landman through for the try and O’Brien made no mistake with the conversion.

The visitors were through again on the 50th minute as a delightful poke through from Talbot-Davies sat up for Hewitt who ran through for a score under the posts, O’Brien’s conversion made it 20-15 to the visitors.

That lead was short-lived though as Falcons scored through a rolling maul in the corner, Gary Graham dotting down.

Flood’s conversion edged the hosts into the lead.

Not long after it was the Dragons who reclaimed the lead in the 58th minute, another kick through saw Pat Howard win a foot race to snatch a score in the corner. Another fantastic kick from O’Brien secured the extra two points.

Falcons were quick to hit back again with captain Mark Wilson going over to secure a bonus point for the home side. Flood added the conversion, and from there it was always going to be tough for the Dragons to come back.

Instead it was Flood who added a final penalty to stretch the home lead to five points, and try as they might, the Dragons couldn’t find a way over, having to settle for a losing bonus point.

Falcons: Hammersley (Harris, 57); Tait, Mermoz, Flood, Radwan; Hodgson, Stuart; Vickers, Sowrey, Davison (S Wilson, 56), Witty, Robinson, M Wilson, Graham, Burrows

Not used: Blamire, Brocklebank, Young, Welch, Dawson, Cowell,

Dragons: Talbot-Davies; Hewitt (Howard, 57), Rosser, Warren, Gasson; O’Brien, Pretorius; Garrett (Davies, 53), Belcher (Ellis, 53), Fairbrother (Harris, 53), Davies, Screech (Landman, 28), Wainwright, Griffiths (Thomas, 77), Benjamin

Not used: Leonard, Henson

Falcons tries: Vickers, Radwan, Graham, Wilson

Conversions: Flood (3)

Penalties: Flood (2)

Dragons tries: Landman, Hewitt, Howard

Conversions: O’Brien (3)

Penalties: O’Brien (2)

Referee: Pierre Brousset

Attendance: 4,052

Argus star man: Angus O’Brien