HEAD COACH Kingsley Jones believes Newport Gwent Dragons' stunning home win against Guinness Pro12 title hopefuls Ulster was vital to keep the faith of the Rodney Parade crowd.

The Dragons won't have any demons when Cardiff Blues visit Newport in the quarter-final of the European Rugby Challenge Cup on April 4 after they upset the odds against the men from Belfast.

Tries by hooker Rhys Buckley, scrum-half Jonathan Evans and full-back Carl Meyer in a tenacious display helped take the spoils 26-22.

It was a timely win as it not only keeps the Dragons on the coattails of the ninth-placed Blues but it was just their sixth home success of the season.

Jones said: "The quarter-final is not something that we have talked about as a group but a defeat would have had an effect because the crowd, who have been fantastic, will lose faith and patience if they keep turning up and we keep losing.

"Lyn (Jones, director of rugby) and I don't just blurt out 'we must win, we must win' because it's also about performance, but to have won two from the last seven at home (in the Pro12) just wasn't good enough.

"The players came up with that as well because we need to make Rodney Parade like it used to be – I used to dread coming here and that has to be the case again.

"Our supporters have been fantastic and we hadn't delivered for them but we did against a very good Ulster side."

The Irish province were without a handful of players but the Dragons played the last half hour with a vastly inexperienced back line of Evans, Dorian Jones, Hallam Amos, Meyer, Jack Dixon, Ashton Hewitt and Tom Prydie.

Nonetheless, they showed tremendous spirit to record a shock win and put a spanner in the works of Ulster's charge for the Pro12 playoffs.

"The boys really worked hard and the forwards put in a hell of a shift," said Jones. "We dealt with Ulster's drive and we dealt with (powerful number eight) Nick Williams.

"There's lots to work on, and our first-phase defence has got to improve, but ultimately to win against a such a quality team as Ulster is a big positive for the Dragons."