NEWPORT Gwent Dragons endured the all-too-familiar plucky defeat after being beaten 26-17 by Guinness Pro12 title hopefuls Glasgow at Rodney Parade.

The frustration of having a losing bonus point snatched away with 90 seconds left looked an unlikely scenario when the dominant Scots led 16-3 at half-time.

However, after the usual frustration of pointless visits to the 22 in the first half, the Dragons found their attacking swagger for five glorious minutes in the second half.

A pair of powerful finishes by loosehead prop Sam Hobbs and the excellent centre Jack Dixon had the Dragons dreaming of a terrific win when leading 17-16.

But Glasgow responded with a second try of their own and though it remained tight and tense, Kingsley Jones’ men were unable to record a second win of the opening month.

In days of old the Dragons used to have the Indian sign over the Warriors in Newport – they won seven of the first eight meetings at Rodney Parade – but the two teams have gone in very different directions recently.

As such, Glasgow desperately needed a win to boost their bid for the Pro12 trophy that they lifted in 2015 after back-to-back losses to Cardiff Blues and Ulster.

Meanwhile the hosts were in need of a lift after failing to build on their rather uninspiring round two victory against Zebre.

Sadly, just like against Munster the week after that spluttering success, they were forced to be content with a feisty display and this time were deprived a losing bonus for their bruises.

The Dragons made a solid start yet it was Glasgow who were first on the scoreboard, although it could have been worse than a Finn Russell penalty after home full-back Carl Meyer badly misjudged a kick through.

The hosts then endured a sadly familiar story – after an overthrown Warriors lineout they had 13 phases inside the enemy 22 only to leave pointless following a mishap by frantic scrum-half Sarel Pretorius.

It was then Glasgow’s turn to be frustrated with a penalty kicked to the corner only for the resulting lineout to be pinged for accidental offside.

However, they were in command with half an hour on the clock when a second Russell penalty was followed by his conversion of a try by former All Blacks hooker Corey Flynn from a driving lineout with the Dragons paying the price for standing off before the shove came on.

It would have been real panic stations had the visiting fly-half found touch with a penalty to the corner but it went dead and gifted the Dragons an escape that they made the most of.

Glasgow flanker Fraser Brown was sin-binned for a no-arms tackle and fly-half Nick Macleod bisected the posts with the resulting penalty.

However, frustratingly the Dragons conceded a penalty straight from the restart when trying to play their way out of the 22 and Russell made it 16-3.

In fact, the 14 men could have gone further ahead before the break after turning down three points for a quick tap but couldn’t quite force their way over.

The Dragons needed a good start to the second half and that is just what they got with a penalty for a high tackle enabling them to hammer away with 15 phases before loosehead Sam Hobbs finished powerfully.

Macleod’s conversion cut the gap to 16-10 and gave a timely pick-me-up to the home side… who then incredibly went in front.

Russell fumbled inside his own half under pressure from his opposite number and centres Jack Dixon and Sam Beard combined to put wing Hallam Amos in motion down the left.

He produced an offload that was matched by Dixon’s destructive finish with Macleod majestically converting from the left touchline.

Glasgow, however, played party poopers and responded rapidly with a try that Dragons lock Matthew Screech won’t enjoy in the Monday debrief after getting done by the quick feet of a loosehead.

Prop Alex Allan danced past him and cantered over from 20 metres out with Russell’s conversion making it 23-17, as it stayed entering the final quarter.

It was still up for grabs but yet another Dragons attack ended without points in the 70th minute when captain Lewis Evans couldn’t gather a slightly high pass five metres out.

And they were on the receiving end of a hammer blow in the final minutes when a break by Italy wing led to another Russell penalty.

The novelty of losing bonus points wore off after bagging 10 last season but the Dragons didn’t even enjoy that frustration ahead of their first derby against the Scarlets a week on Saturday.

Dragons: C Meyer, P Howard, S Beard, J Dixon, H Amos, N Macleod, S Pretorius (C Davies 61), S Hobbs (T Davies 54), R Thomas (R Buckley 63), B Harris (C Mitchell 58), M Screech, R Landman (C Hill 45), N Crosswell (H Keddie 73), N Cudd, L Evans (captain).

Scorers: tries – S Hobbs, J Dixon; conversions – N Macleod (2); penalty – N Macleod

Glasgow: P Murchie, T Seymour, M Bennett (R Clegg 58), A Dunbar, R Hughes (L Sarto 56), F Russell, H Pyrgos (co-captain, A Price 56), A Allan (D Sears-Duru 63), C Flynn (P MacArthur 13-19, 56), S Puafisi (D Rae 67), R Harley, J Gray (co-captain), L Wynne (M Fagerson 71), F Brown, J Strauss (R McAlpine 73).

Scorers: tries – C Flynn, A Allan; conversions – F Russell (2); penalties – F Russell (4)

Referee: Andrew Brace (Ireland)

Attendance: 4,809

Argus star man: Jack Dixon