IT’S BEEN a mixed week for Newport’s two premier sporting teams.

The Dragons followed up their brilliant European Challenge Cup win over old rivals Cardiff Blues with a magnificent victory against Pro12 champions Leinster.

Lyn Jones’ young team has performed well since the turn of the year, even if they haven’t always got the results they might have deserved.

But on Friday night they have a chance to make a little bit of history for professional rugby in Gwent.

Victory at Murrayfield against a tough Edinburgh side will put the Dragons into the final of the European Challenge Cup – a first final appearance in the region’s 12-year history.

Four victories in a row mean the Dragons have momentum going into the semi-final – and momentum can make the difference between winning and losing tight games at this level.

Some of the young players the Dragons have placed their faith in during recent season are now starting to repay that in bucketloads. And the likes of Hallam Amos and Jack Dixon could well be mainstays of the Welsh team over the next 10 years.

Keeping hold of young talent is going to be the key to the Dragons’ success or failure over the next few seasons.

This term has given them a real base to build on, and a real chance to put an end to the region’s traditional reputation as the whipping boys of professional rugby in Wales.

What Newport County would give to be going into the last fortnight of the season with four successive victories behind them.

Instead, Jimmy Dack’s players have gone four games without a win and face having to win all three of their remaining matches to have any chance of claiming a promotion play-off place.

Their final matches – against Dagenham and Redbridge, York City and Oxford United – are all eminently winnable but the play-offs are no longer entirely in the Exiles’ hands. They could win all three matches and still not finish in the top seven.

Even if County don’t make the play-offs – and I have to admit that part of me would be worried about whether the club could cope on and off the pitch with League One football – this season has still been a success.

This is County’s second season in the Football League after a 25-year absence. They will end it with more points and in a higher position than last season. That is genuine progress.

Yes, there will be significant changes at the club over the summer. It looks likely that a new manager will be brought in and only a handful of the playing squad have contracts beyond next season.

The playing budget will be lower than next season, but with four of this season’s youth squad being offered professional contracts that might not be as much of a problem as it sounds.

The club is also adding to its board and will need to appoint an executive to run its day-to-day operations following the departure of Dave Boddy earlier this year.

The club would then benefit, in my view, from a period of stability. County needs to become an established Football League club. It needs time to reap the benefits of its investment in the youth academy and in the community. It needs time to get its off-field management right. What has been achieved in the last five years has been remarkable but mistakes have inevitably been made because everyone concerned with running the club is learning on the job. That may mean a few seasons of consolidation in League Two, safe from relegation and perhaps flirting with the play-offs every now and then. But better that than to crash and burn like some clubs have after rocketing up the leagues.

The Dragons and the County are both in great positions on which to build for the next few seasons. The Dragons are further advanced thanks to their investment in youth rather than star names. But there is no reason why a similar strategy should not benefit the Exiles as well.