CHRIS KIRWAN SAYS: Glasgow nightmare just goes on for the Dragons (From South Wales Argus)

CHRIS KIRWAN SAYS: Glasgow nightmare just goes on for the Dragons

9:20am Thursday 7th March 2013 in Sport

LEON Lett was one of the best in the NFL when he was a defensive tackle with the Dallas Cowboys in the 1990s.

He won the Super Bowl three times and earned selection for the Pro Bowl, an exhibition game for the cream of American Football talent, twice.

Lett was one of the most feared defensive players in the game, racking up tackles, sacks and terrorising quarterbacks.

But for all this talent, it isn’t dazzling play that pops up on the screen when you type his name into Google.

He is famous for a pair of bloopers – the first when he had the ball stripped from his grasp while showboating on his way to a touchdown and the second was a comical fumble in the snow that cost his side victory.

There are certain things that stick in the mind, as Newport Gwent Dragons know to their cost.

Whatever happens for the rest of this season there will be no getting away from their 60-3, eight-try home drubbing by Glasgow.

So calamitous, so inept was the performance that it would probably take a five-game winning streak to heal the wound.

The statistics would tell you that despite the Dragons’ lowly 11th position in the RaboDirect Pro12, it has been a pretty average season.

If they can sneak two more league wins then they will match the tallies from 2007/08, 2008/9 and 2011/12 when they managed seven wins (although there were fewer games played in the first two of those campaigns).

But the trouble is that it has been a functional season, the Dragons have won the home games that you would expect them to and failed to notch a single shock win.

They have beaten winless Zebre twice and enjoyed Rod-ney Parade successes against 10th-placed Edinburgh, ninth-placed Connacht and seventh-placed Treviso.

They have secured just two losing bonus points – when they should have won against Cardiff Blues in the capital and against Leinster last week, thanks to a stirring comeback.

With a tough run-in against four opponents chasing playoff spots, the chances are that the Dragons will fail to climb up from the position next to Zebre.

But the feeling in the camp is one of optimism; they feel they can salvage something from a disappointing campaign and that they can put some noses out of joint.

It’s amazing what a big win can do for the morale of players and supporters alike.

Last season’s home clash with Cardiff Blues was a stinker yet Tonderai Chav-hanga’s late wonder try papered over the cracks, leaving the fans heading home feeling that all was well in the world.

The same against the Ospreys, Scarlets, Ulster or Munster would at least ensure some cheer in a campaign of frequent frowning.

If the Dragons manage to win more games than they lose for the rest of the season then they will at least save some face.

But I hate to be the bearer of bad news for the players and staff who are hoping to change the perception of the Dragons’ season.

Glasgow was so bad that there is no chance of any shock win – even an unlikely success in Belfast or a drubbing of the Scarlets at the Millennium Stadium – preventing it from being the image that sticks in the mind from 2012/13.