DRAGONS boss Dean Ryan says there is little point reviewing the tape of a dour defeat to Cardiff Blues for pointers to turn derby despair into derby delight.

The men from the capital took the spoils 13-12 on Boxing Day in a forgettable contest of 29 penalties, no line breaks and just two offloads.

Josh Lewis kicked four penalties for the Dragons, who failed to have a single try-scoring chance, and Jarrod Evans booted a pair of penalties and the conversion of Josh Turnbull’s close-range try.

Horrendous weather ensured it was a game of few highlights on a heavy pitch, and that Ryan won’t be spending too long looking for nuggets of information ahead of the New Year’s Day trip to the Scarlets.

“I don’t think that you learn a lot from that. You get back, you get fresh and get ready to go again because that was a war of attrition when you look at small behaviours. You just freshen up and go ready to go again,” said the director of rugby.

South Wales Argus: STOPPED: Lloyd Williams is tackled by the DragonsSTOPPED: Lloyd Williams is tackled by the Dragons

The Blues have now won 11 games on the spin against the Dragons, a streak that goes back to the 2015 European Challenge Cup quarter-final in Newport.

“It was a tight derby game in tough weather conditions,” said Ryan. “We’ve got to challenge ourselves about sitting in games like that because some of our behaviour allowed them to march up the field too easily.

“A couple of poor penalties, a few kick chases put them in our 22. Ultimately if you spend a lot of time in your own 22 then they are going to come out the right side of a one-point win.

“We were pretty gutsy when sitting on our line, but don’t sit on your line so often is the lesson to be learnt.

“It’s always tough when you don’t win, it’s always tough when you don’t win because of certain things that you are in control of.

“Sometimes it’s a bit easier when you know that someone has done something well. We’ve just got to be better in those close contests.”

The Dragons face the Scarlets on Friday and then welcome the Ospreys to Newport on Saturday, January 9.

That is the day before Newport County AFC host Brighton in the FA Cup with the Exiles entertaining Exeter on Tuesday and Southend on Saturday in League Two.

The pitch is starting to struggle and the situation isn’t helped by a coronavirus outbreak among the Rodney Parade groundstaff that was identified on Christmas Eve.

“In difficult circumstances we were indebted to a number of key people who stepped up over the festive period and helped us deliver the Cardiff Blues game as planned,” said Dragons managing director Mark Jones.

“Our thanks in particular to Lewis James and Nick Rawlings as without them it might not have been possible to get the pitch ready to host the fixture.”