NEWPORT Gwent Dragons endured muddy hell after the Guinness PRO12 title-chasing Ospreys condemned them to a first Rodney Parade defeat since September.

The west Walians made it a double derby disappointment by following Cardiff Blues by taking the spoils against Kingsley Jones' side with Wales flanker Justin Tipuric's early try proving to be a telling blow.

The game needed to pass a number of pitch inspections with the Ospreys clearly not happy about the state of the Newport pitch.

Head coach Steve Tandy had a face like thunder after failing to convince referee Ian Davies to call the whole thing off but the result surely would have had him cracking a slight smile.

In the end his players played the testing conditions far better – Dan Biggar and Sam Davies put the boot into the Dragons.

The hosts were right to kick frequently, despite the comical jeers of the home faithful, but their execution was horrendous.

For all the honest endeavour up front, with openside Ollie Griffiths having a marvellous game along with hooker Elliot Dee, they just didn't have enough territory or enough power to burst their way through when in enemy territory.

The Dragons headed into the game on the back of Newport successes against Brive, Connacht, the Scarlets, Edinburgh and Worcester but knew this would be their biggest test.

They Ospreys headed east with a XV featuring one world class player in Alun Wyn Jones and Lions contenders in Biggar, Tipuric and Scott Baldwin.

They had a record of 27 wins in their last 29 while the Dragons had not won a league derby since Boxing Day, 2014 and the game went true to the form book.

The Dragons don't have long to lick their wounds after their losses to the Blues and Ospreys with Treviso heading to Newport on Friday followed by a home fixture against Enisei in the Challenge Cup.

Getting back on the horse is essential after slipping beneath Edinburgh to 10th in the table in the 'mini league' with the Scots, eighth-placed champions Connacht and the Italian duo.

It was a cagey opening as both sides try to get used to the conditions but it was the Ospreys that struck first with a superb counter-attack.

Dragons full-back Carl Meyer went for an ill-advised dink and it was gathered by scrum-half Tom Habberfield, who burst through the attempted tackles of centres Sam Beard and Tyler Morgan before Olly Cracknell found his fellow flanker Tipuric.

The Wales man had too much pace for Dragons number eight Ed Jackson and slid over for a 13th-minute try that Biggar converted.

The Dragons were given a chance to work themselves into the game when Habberfield was sin-binned for slapping the ball out of the scrum-half's hands at a breakdown just seconds after a deliberate knock-on by wing Hanno Dirksen.

However, the kick-heavy game meant the visitors, with two superb game managers in Biggar and Sam Davies, ate up the clock with no damage done.

No sooner were they back to 15 than the Dragons had a chance only for Tipuric's offside to go unpunished when Angus O'Brien was wide left from the tee on the half hour.

The visitors had taken their chance expertly while the hosts' dangerman Ashton Hewitt was being marshalled expertly down the rather squelchy Hazell Terrace flank.

The Dragons were struggling to get their driving lineout going while they were unable to punch their way through the Ospreys' defence and it remained 7-0 at the break.

The visitors started the second half superbly and piled on the pressure, kicking penalties to the corner in an attempt to barge their way over for a key score.

The Dragons' defensive lineout did a good job and, with openside Ollie Griffiths immense, they managed to protect their line.

However, the pressure was incessant with scrum-half Tavis Knoyle not helping with yet another kick out on the full, the hosts' third of the game.

The game was being played exclusively in the northern half of the pitch with the Dragons frequency of kicking understandable but their execution horrendous.

The hosts were carrying no threat with ball in hand so the Ospreys were content to try and hammer their way over for a clincher rather than using the right peg of Biggar.

That failed and when the Dragons had a rare foray into enemy territory they were given a penalty for a high tackle on Hewitt that O'Brien pushed to the right from long range.

He failed but opposite number Biggar made no mistake when the excellent Griffiths was pinged at the breakdown, the Wales fly-half securing the win when making it 10-0 with eight minutes left.

Pat Howard was close to giving the Dragons a way back in when he knocked on attempting to gather replacement scrum-half Sarel Pretorius' clever box kick in the 76th minute.

The home pack put the power on to earn another chance but the Dragons couldn't force a score that would at least earn a consolation bonus point for their honest toil.

Dragons: C Meyer, P Howard, T Morgan, S Beard (A Warren 59), A Hewitt, A O'Brien (D Jones 70), T Knoyle (S Pretorius 67), P Price (S Hobbs 49), E Dee (R Buckley 70), B Harris (L Fairbrother 59), N Crosswell (M Screech 67), C Hill (R Landman 67), L Evans (captain), O Griffiths, E Jackson.

Ospreys: S Davies, H Dirksen (B Leonard 42), K Fonotia (J Spratt 57), J Matavesi, D Evans, D Biggar, T Habberfield, P James (N Smith 50), S Baldwin (S Parry 69), M Fia (R Jones 61), L Ashley (R Thornton 50), AW Jones (captain), O Cracknell (S Underhill 67), J Tipuric, J King.

Scorers: try – J Tipuric; conversion – D Biggar; penalty – D Biggar

Yellow card: T Habberfield

Referee: Ian Davies (WRU)

Argus star man: Ollie Griffiths

Attendance: 6,746