ON the face of it a losing bonus point at the Sportsground wasn't a disastrous start to the Guinness Pro12 for Newport Gwent Dragons. In reality it was a golden opportunity to end their Irish hoodoo wasted.

Connacht, who were without high-profile Kiwi recruits Mils Muliaina, Tom McCartney and Bundee Aki along with Irish dangerman Robbie Henshaw, were far from their best yet were still good value for a 11th successive home win against the men from Rodney Parade.

A half-decent Dragons display could well have been enough for them to be heading into Friday's home derby against the Ospreys with the aim of winning their opening two fixtures in the Celtic League for the first time.

Instead they find themselves under pressure to bag at least two victories from their September encounters with the Ospreys, Glasgow and Treviso in Newport.

History would suggest that a 16-11 reverse wasn't a bad effort as the Dragons have not won in Galway since the first season of regional rugby and Saturday was the sixth time in 11 subsequent visits that they have finished within bonus point range.

But it's now 18 games on the spin without victory in Ireland and, given the provinces make up a third of the league, that is a record that is terminal to hopes of mixing it with the big boys.

Both teams were said to be upwardly mobile; Connacht were given the big build-up with plenty expecting them to push strongly for a place in next year's European Rugby Champions Cup while the Dragons had been tipped by England World Cup winner Will Greenwood to qualify for the playoffs.

The Sky Sports pundit is renowned for his thorough approach but if he needs me to email him my spreadsheet of away results since 2003 then I am willing to do so, because it may make him re-evaluate.

Forget making the top four, if they are to be considered as contenders for the top half for the first time since 2005 then they need to be winning away games like Saturday's.

There is no need to hit the panic button on the back of one frustrating afternoon in the west of Ireland but it was a chance missed to make a statement to the rest of the Pro12.

This couldn't be put down to the hosts knowing how to play the wind and rain better on their Galway turf; it was a still and pleasant evening.

Conditions were perfect but the Dragons were inaccurate and plagued by mistakes.

It provided further evidence of the folly of reading too much into pre-season; Northampton started their season by crushing Gloucester 53-6 a week after being turned over in Ebbw Vale while the Dragons followed up the success against the English champions by spluttering in Galway.

There was nothing structurally wrong. They did okay in the scrum, didn't get bullied at the driving lineout, weren't outmuscled and looked dangerous in patches.

They just shot themselves in the foot time and time again and were killed by individual errors.

"Too many of our good players weren't on the money and there were too many mistakes early on, including from me" lamented lock Andrew Coombs.

"You can't do that at places like Connacht. We came back well for a bonus point, which is important, but that wasn't what we wanted from here."

The Dragons made a sluggish start and trailed 8-0 courtesy of a try by home number eight Eoin McKeon, after fly-half Jason Tovey missed touch with a penalty, and a penalty by centre Darragh Leader.

They gradually grew into the game and were level after half an hour thanks to a superb team try that was finished off down the right by openside Nick Cudd followed by a Tovey penalty.

The three-pointer came after Connacht had infringed close to their line following a quick tap by scrum-half Jonathan Evans and earned centre Dave McSharry a spell in the sin bin.

The Dragons failed to make that count – although footage proved an Andrew Coombs try that was chalked off for a knock-on after the intervention of the touch judge to be a legitimate – whereas theirs hosts were ruthless after the break.

Full-back Lee Byrne was shown yellow for taking out fly-half Jack Carty in the air, although the skipper felt it was innocuous, before centre Tyler Morgan joined him on the naughty bench for going off his feet at a ruck.

Connacht edged in front through the right boot of Leader in between the yellows and then took command approaching the hour when wing Danie Poolman finished expertly from Carty's crosskick inside the 22.

After an iffy forward pass call against Byrne denied Jonathan Evans a run-in, Tovey earned a bonus point when he kicked a beautiful penalty with four minutes left and the Dragons had the chance to steal the spoils at the death only for their lineout drive to be repelled.

They couldn't complain – it was a performance that did not merit more than a point.

Connacht: S Layden, N Adeolokun, D Leader (C Finn 65), D McSharry, D Poolman, J Carty (M Nikora 65), I Porter (K Marmion 52), D Buckley (F Bealham 79), D Heffernan (S Henry 74), N White (R Ah You 60), M Kearney, Q Roux, J Muldoon (captain, W Faloon 56), J Heenan, E McKeon (G Naoupu 40).

Scorers: tries – E McKeon, D Poolman; penalties – D Leader (2)

Yellow card: D McSharry

Dragons: L Byrne (captain), T Prydie, T Morgan, J Dixon (B Nightingale 78), A Brew, J Tovey (G R Jones 78), J Evans ( D Jones), B Stankovich (O Evans 74), E Dee (R Thomas 60), L Fairbrother (D Way 62), A Coombs (I Gough 57), R Landman, L Evans, N Cudd, A Powell (T Faletau 54).

Scorers: tries – N Cudd; penalties – J Tovey (2)

Yellow cards: L Byrne, T Morgan

Referee: Marius Mitrea (Italy)

Attendance: 4,213