NEWPORT Gwent Dragons' Irish travel sickness continues after they were beaten 23-6 by Ulster in the wind and the rain of Ravenhill.

The Ulstermen put the squeeze on the injury-hit Dragons in Belfast to emerge with a Guinness Pro12 victory thanks to a brace by full-back Stuart Olding and an injury time score by prop Declan Fitzpatrick.

All the Rodney Parade region could muster was a pair of Angus O'Brien penalties and they will be grateful for the two-week break for the LV= Cup that gives them a chance to get some of their walking wounded back on the pitch.

There was no lack of endeavour from an inexperienced side but they lacked the accuracy of their hosts, who played the conditions far better to pin the Rodney Parade region back in their own half.

The Dragons were a touch naive, as you'd expect from a line-up that had an LV= Cup look to it, yet they defended tenaciously to mean that they still had a sniff of a bonus point going into the closing stages.

But the visitors could have few complaints about failing to add to their Pro12 points haul in Belfast.

It's now three pointless games on the spin in the league for the Dragons and they have slipped down a place to 10th after Cardiff Blues had to settle for a losing bonus point following Munster's late winner in the capital.

And it has been six years – and 24 games – since the Rodney Parade region's last win in Ireland, a 16-14 success in Belfast.

The Dragons upset the odds against Stade Francais in Paris a fortnight ago but sadly a repeat never looked likely at Ravenhill.

Ulster were without a number of international players but the visitors headed over the Irish Sea with an inexperienced squad because of a lengthy injury list and Wales call-ups for Taulupe Faletau, Hallam Amos and Tom Prydie.

Angus O'Brien, 20, was asked to pull the strings in awful conditions from fly-half but he had a makeshift set of three-quarters outside him.

Experienced centre Ashley Smith, who suffered a dead leg against Newcastle, was forced to pull out of the starting line-up before kick-off.

That meant on-loan Carmarthen Quins centre Rhys Williams was partnered in midfield by wing Matthew Pewtner with 19-year-old Ashton Hewitt coming in on the right flank while fly-half Jason Tovey played at full-back in the absence of injured captain Lee Byrne, Amos and Prydie.

It wasn't just in the backs where the Dragons were hit by injury; they were forced to field James Thomas, a blindside by trade, at lock while openside Nic Cudd, whose defensive heroics had kept the scoreboard looking respectable in the defeats to the Scarlets and Edinburgh, was back at home with a bruised leg.

The list of absentees meant it was going to be a steep learning curve for the youngsters in the Dragons' squad at one of rugby's most intimidating venues.

Ulster were on the front foot from the first whistle but the Dragons held on through a combination of determined defence and the slippery conditions, which helped to prevent the hosts from reaping the rewards of an ambitious start.

But it took some terrific covering defence by Thomas to prevent Darren Cave from scoring after 15 minutes.

The lock played for the Dragons in the Premiership Rugby 7s in pre-season and showed he has a neat turn of pace by winning the 20-yard dash to Stuart Olding's grubber kick over the try line, the TMO confirming his slide got him to the loose ball before the Ireland centre.

The Dragons would have been more than happy to head into the second quarter of the game on level terms but were hit by 11 points in the space of four minutes.

Fly-half Paddy Jackson booted a pair of penalties and then full-back Olding, released for provincial action by Ireland, raced through midfield and eluded the tackles of Williams and O'Brien for a 31st minute score.

O'Brien got the Dragons on the scoreboard with a penalty after 35 minutes and they were still in with a shout of leaving with something to show for their efforts when they headed for the changing room 11-3 down.

They needed to improve their kicking game if they were to get back into bonus point territory but it was all Ulster after the resumption and not even a tremendous last-ditch effort by hooker Rhys Thomas could prevent Olding from scoring try number two down the right to make it 16-3 after 47 minutes.

The Dragons were chasing the game, never easy in greasy conditions, but were still in contention after an hour thanks to a second penalty by O'Brien that made it 16-6.

Aided by some Ulster errors that's how it stayed until injury time when replacement prop Declan Fitzpatrick rumbled over.

Ulster: S Olding; L Ludik (R Andrew 36), D Cave, S McCloskey (I Humphreys 63), P Nelson, P Jackson, P Marshall (M Heaney 76), C Black, R Herring, W Herbst (D Fitzpatrick 55), L Stevenson (N McComb 59), F vd Merwe, C Ross, S Reidy, R Wilson (captain, R Diack 6).

Scorers: tries – S Olding (2), D Fitzpatrick; conversion – I Humphreys; penalties – P Jackson (2)

Dragons: J Tovey (G R Jones 43), A Hewitt, M Pewtner, R Williams (B Nightingale 68), A Brew, A O'Brien, R Rees (J Evans 68), B Stankovich (O Evans 51), R Thomas (E Dee 49), D Way (L Fairbrother 31), J Thomas, R Landman (captain), L Evans (O Griffiths 64), J Benjamin, A Powell.

Scorers: penalties – A O'Brien (2)

Referee: Matteo Liperini (Italy)

Argus star man: James Thomas