Scarlets went down to a 38-26 defeat in a thrilling BKT United Rugby Championship Welsh derby at Rodney Parade.
For the second successive week, Scarlets played with plenty of adventure, scoring four tries including an early stunner from wing Macs Page.
The game see-sawed throughout, but it was the Dragons who made their moments pay, showing a clinical side in the second half to secure a maximum-point haul, denying the Scarlets a second bonus point with a try in the final play.
Looking to bounce back from their opening loss to Cardiff, Scarlets flew out of the blocks and were ahead within two minutes of the kick-off thanks to a piece of individual brilliance from Page.
The young winger collected the ball in space 60 metres out, then turned on the afterburners to outstrip the covering defence.
Page still had plenty to do, but chipped over the final defender, gathered, then cut inside for a magical score. The returning Sam Costelow converted to give the visitors the perfect start.
The Scarlets then had to soak up a concerted period of pressure which eventually led to new Dragons signing, left wing Anzelo Tuitavuki, squeezing in at the corner. De Beer’s touchline conversion levelled it up on 13 minutes.
The home side took the lead soon after when hooker Elliot Dee touched down on the back of an attacking line-out, but back came the Scarlets to snatch the advantage again thanks to a second from that man Page.
After setting up an attacking platform inside the Dragons 22, centre Eddie James punched over the gainline and with the Dragons backline sucked in, a lovely miss pass from Costelow found his winger for the corner score. Costelow nailed a brilliant touchline conversion to make it 14-12 at the break.
It was the turn of the Dragons to make a swift start to the second half, the impressive Rio Dyer leaping to take the restart and prop Rodrigo Martinez finishing off a sweeping attack. De Beer added the extras.
Scarlets came close to a strong response, but Ellis Mee was just unable to gather Page’s deft cross kick. However, the fluctuating nature of the contest continued when replacement prop Sam O’Connor drove over from close range after strong work from the pack following an attacking line-out drive. Costelow’s conversion made it 21-19 to the Scarlets on the hour mark.
After failing to deal with the restart, the visitors had to soak up wave upon wave of home attacks and eventually Dragons pounced for their fourth, full-back Huw Anderson diving in wide out for a score converted by de Beer.
The Scarlets attacked once more, but a counter from Dyer led to skipper Josh Macleod making the cover tackle, only to be yellow carded at the breakdown. The penalty ultimately led to Dee’s second and the Dragons were two scores ahead.
Despite being a man down, Scarlets carved out a fourth try for replacement Jones and the game was in the balance once again.
However, the home side had the final word when prop Rob Hunt ploughed over.
Attention now turns to Saturday’s home clash with Benetton.
Dragons – try: A. Tuitavuki, E. Dee (2), R. Martinez, H. Anderson, R. Hunt. Con: T. De Beer (4)
Scarlets – tries: M. Page (2), S.O’Connor, I. Jones. Con: S Costelow (3)
Blair Murray; Ellis Mee (repl Ioan Jones 70), Joe Roberts (repl Joe Hawkins 65), Eddie James, Macs Page; Sam Costelow, Dane Blacker (repl Gareth Davies 70); Kemsley Mathias (repl Sam O’Connor 49), Ryan Elias (repl John McKee 53), Harri O’Connor (repl Gabe Hawley 65), Alex Groves, Sam Lousi, Josh Macleod (capt), Dan Davis (repl Ryan Elias 75), Osian Williams (repl Tristan Davies 60; repl Will Evans 72).
Referee: Adam Jones (WRU)
Attendance: 7,163