HOW fitting that Newport Gwent Dragons had to soak up so much pressure to secure an incredibly hard-fought derby victory.

In a game rearranged because of a waterlogged pitch, the levee didn’t break when Cardiff Blues piled on the pressure in the second half.

Defeat seemed certain when Ben Blair edged the visitors into a deserved lead with 12 minutes left but in a pig ugly game a moment of pure beauty took the spoils.

South Africa international wing Tonderai Chavhanga has had precious few chances to show his blistering speed since arriving at Rodney Parade but what a time to get him the ball in space.

Replacement prop Phil Price will claim the assist for the 72nd-minute but this was all about the speed merchant.

He raced down the flank from 40 metres out, chipped over the last man, juggled the ball and then dotted down to spark wild celebrations.

It probably wasn’t a deserved win but who cares?

The Dragons played some pretty impressive, expansive rugby in defeat against Munster a fortnight ago and were left with nothing to show for their efforts.

They showed precious little quality stuff against the Blues but they defended tremendously and took four points.

The roar from the fans on the terraces when referee Leighton Hodges blew the final whistle provided the answer as to which of the two is preferable.

Plenty of the pre-match chat was about the decision not to include Cardiff-bound fly-half Jason Tovey but it was a man that headed from the Blues region to Rodney Parade that was to be a key figure.

Darren Waters, a former bricklayer who started as a Beddau scrum-half before becoming an openside flanker with Pontypridd, was part of a back row that needed to get to grips with Blues number eight Xavier Rush.

Dan Lydiate had done a marvellous chopping job on the Kiwi (and Jamie Roberts) in last season’s fixture and Waters, Lewis Evans and Tom Brown, a former Blues number eight, needed to repeat it in his absence.

Easier said than done. The Blues’ talisman ate up the yards all evening long, getting his side out of trouble and getting them on the front foot.

He was the key figure in the visitors’ power game while the Dragons were looking to play with a bit more guile and width.

That didn’t really come to fruition in the first half with the dangerous home three-quarters living off scraps.

Nonetheless Darren Edwards’ side would have been disappointed to be just 10-8 up after having the better of the first quarter.

The Blues struck first when Dan Parks knocked over an early penalty but the man who was villain for that offence soon turned hero.

A wretched pass by visiting flanker Michael Paterson inside his 22 allowed Dragons lock Jevon Groves to dot down over the try line.

Robling added the extras and then a penalty as the hosts looked to take command. Instead they were hit by a sucker punch.

Powerhouse centre Andy Tuilagi was pick-pocketed by Richie Rees just as Scott Williams had nicked the ball from Courtney Lawes to seal the Triple Crown for Wales at Twickenham.

The scrum-half had pace merchant Tom James on his shoulder and the try was inevitable as soon as the ball was in the winger’s hands.

Parks was horribly wide with the conversion and then traded missed penalties with Robling as the game got frustratingly scrappy.

The whistle of referee Leighton Hodges was a frequent feature for knock-ons that led to scrums that usually led to penalties at the set piece lottery.

It was 10-8 to the hosts at the break and Robling and Parks traded penalties at the start of the second half as neither side really took control.

However, slowly but surely the region from the capital started piling on the pressure and they forced the Dragons into some frantic defence work.

They were struggling to clear their lines and the fear was that the pressure would eventually pay off.

It was only the finger tips of scrum-half Wayne Evans that kept the lead when James sniffed out a chance from a grubber kick over the Dragons’ line but it was one-way traffic.

Only the poor kicking of Parks was preventing the visitors from getting their noses in front and when Ben Blair was called from the bench it was vital that the New Zealander wasn’t given a shot at goal.

He was and it was 14-13 with 12 minutes left but then came Chavhanga’s magic moment to secure the spoils.