THE Dragons Under-18s won the Regional Age Grade Championship after edging a thriller against Cardiff 29-27 thanks to a last-gasp penalty try.

The winner-takes-all fixture was moved to Ystrad Mynach because Storm Dudley had caused structural damage at the Arms Park but the wind and rain didn't prevent it being a cracker.

Cardiff looked set to lift the trophy when they led by 10 points in the final 10 minutes but the young Dragons sealed a comeback win at the death thanks to a penalty try for a driving lineout being stopped illegally, making it a clean sweep of wins in the tournament against their regional rivals.

It means that the class of 2022 follow in the footsteps of the squad from three years ago, who were captained by now senior Wales international Ben Carter.

The Dragons had to show their fighting spirit after a campaign in which they hammered the Ospreys, RGC and Scarlets thanks to hard graft.

"Since day one of training around Christmas there was always belief that we were the best team and always belief that nobody was working harder than us in training," said coach Jack Condy.

"They totally deserve this - when I was watching the boys in that first training session I felt sick myself!

"We kept saying that the mindset was no-one is working harder than us and that showed on Wednesday, we went for the whole 70 minutes."

The Dragons took the lead through a Sam Berry penalty but Cardiff scored the opening try from a driving lineout through number eight Lucas de la Rua with Harri Wilde converting.

The hosts responded when Connor Lewis went over from a maul and Berry converted for 10-7 but the visitors responded immediately through captain Harry Beddall.

A Wilde penalty made it 15-10 at the break and he scored soon after the restart to put Cardiff in control.

Rees picked up a stray pass to go over from inside his own half on 49 minutes with Jack Woods adding a superb conversion but Cardiff got their fourth, and seemingly crucial, try through hooker Gavin Parry.

However, the Dragons showed spirit and a try by Aneurin Jenkins set up the dramatic finale.

Dragons U18s: Huw Anderson, Will Rees, Cam Davies, Harri Ackerman (c), Ioan Duggan, Sam Berry, Zak Roberts; Morgan Williams, Freddy Harding, Conall Couch, Owain Osmond, Nick Thomas, Will Gregory, Connor Lewis, Charlie Harkins.

Replacements: Aneurin Jenkins, Taran Moa, Alex Uwimana, Gethyn Cannon, Kobi Rees, Tom Horan, Jack Woods, Oli Woodman