THE Dragons are within touching distance of the knockout stages of the European Challenge Cup after a 21-15 win in Pau.

Dai Flanagan’s men headed to the Stade du Hameau on a seven-game winless streak but produced a battling display for a first win since October.

Victory means that the Dragons are now close to sealing a last 16 spot and it could even be a home tie if they overturn the Lions in Newport next Sunday.

They led 15-7 at half-time after responding to an early Pau try with scores by wing Ashton Hewitt, his first since rupturing knee ligaments when scoring against Northampton in April 2021, and centre Max Clark.

They started the second half poorly, as they did the first, to see their lead cut to three points but held their nerve and sealed the spoils thanks to the right boots of Will Reed and JJ Hanrahan.

Relegation-threatened Pau rang the changes from their Top 14 defeat to Lyon to present a big opportunity for a first win on the road this season, but it was the same in 2021/22 when the Dragons failed to fire in Perpignan.

This time they took the spoils after responding to being battered in the scrum by having the better of the lineout, with lock George Nott superb Hooker Bradley Roberts and flanker Taine Basham did their Six Nations hopes no harm with all-action performances while young fly-half Reed played well alongside much-improved Lewis Jones.

It was still not a performance to match the first block of the United Rugby Championship but the gutsy victory was all that mattered, releasing some of the building pressure and crucially increasing the hopes of the last 16.

The error count from both sides was incredibly high from the off but Pau flexed their muscles with a dominant scrum after five minutes.

That was a warning for the Dragons about the bulk in the home pack and they then suffered from the threat out wide.

Playing with penalty advantage, Pau spread the ball left for Daniel Ikpefan to chip over the top and win the race for a try. Thibault Debaes added the extras from out wide.

However, the Dragons responded superbly to move into a 15-7 lead after 28 minutes thanks to a pair of tries and five points from the boot of fly-half Reed.

They reaped the rewards of patience in the Pau half with the leveller coming when a neat inside ball by scrum-half Lewis Jones put Hewitt over.

Reed converted and added a penalty after another attack in the 22 before Clark went over.

The Dragons made the most of a loose lineout to charge towards the hosts line and then stress them with hard carrying before Lewis picked out his centre.

Clark was agonisingly close to the winner in the Newport meeting between the sides but this time dotted down with a smart finish over his head when tackled on the line.

Reed hit the left post with his conversion and the Dragons suffered a blow before half-time when Ollie Griffiths, who had been impressive with ball in hand on only his second appearance of the season, was forced off.

The back rower left the field clutching his right pec after making a tackle, that after a pre-season back injury had been followed by a calf strain for the most unlucky of players.

The Dragons had an eight-point lead at the break but that was whittled down to three 40 seconds after the restart.

A poor kick chase and missed tackles led to Théo Attissogbe bursting through and then, after Aaron Wainwright’s superb covering tackle, offloading for Vincent Pinto to go over.

The Dragons had started the second half like they did the first, racking up the errors and playing into Pau’s hands.

They were under pressure at the scrum but continued to thrive at the lineout and another botched effort by the hosts led to pressure that ended in a penalty after Reed was hit late.

The young fly-half dusted himself down and sweetly stuck the ball over for an 18-12 lead after 56 minutes.

It remained nip-and-tuck as the clock hit 70 and another dominant scrum allowed Pau to put the squeeze on in the 22 only for strong defence to hold them up over the line.

The Dragons botched a lineout on the 22 with four to go – bizarrely going for another long throw rather than keeping things simple – but reacted swiftly to win a penalty after Pau sealed off at the following ruck.

Replacement fly-half JJ Hanrahan, formerly of Clermont, made no mistake on his return to France to make it 21-12 with two minutes to go.

Pau did have the last say with a penalty for a consolation bonus but the Dragons took the four points to inch towards the knockout stages.

Dragons: J Williams; Dyer, S Hughes (captain), Clark (Dixon 63), Hewitt; Reed (Hanrahan 71), L Jones (Hope 72); R Evans (Reynolds 63), B Roberts (Coghlan 63), Coleman (Yendle 71), J Davies (Carter 52), Nott, Lonsdale, Basham, Griffiths (Wainwright 35).

Scorers: tries – Hewitt, Clark; conversions – Reed; penalties – Reed (2), Hanrahan.

Pau scorers: tries – Ikpefan, Pinto; conversion – Debaes; penalty – Levron.