Cardiff climbed to the top of the BKT United Rugby Championship table as they battled to a bonus-point victory over the Dragons at Rodney Parade.
The Blue & Blacks made a flying start in Newport as Alex Mann claimed the first of his side’s four tries.
Dragons temporarily regained the lead but a Taulupe Faletau put Cardiff back in front and they never looked back.
Dan Thomas and Danny Southworth both powered over as Cardiff recorded a 21st consecutive Championship victory over their East Wales rivals.
Cardiff made seven changes for the Rodney Parade encounter as they welcomed five Wales internationals into the starting line-up. Taulupe Faletau and Corey Domachowski were in to make their first appearances of the season, while Alex Mann, Ben Thomas and Josh Adams returned from rest, suspension and injury.
It took the Blue & Blacks less than a minute to open the scoring as Shane Lewis-Hughes was penalised at the breakdown.
Belcher pointed to the corner and Josh McNally won front ball before the pack rumbled over with Mann the scorer. Sheedy pushed his touchline conversion but the visitors were five points up as the minute approached.
The Dragons roared back with Tinus de Beer making a trademark break before sending the ball wide. Cardiff held out wave after wave of close carries but after earning a penalty, they too rumbled over with Broadie Coghlan peeling off the back.
De Beer added the simple extras to nudge the hosts into a 7-5 lead to send the Rodney Parade into jubilation. More fuel was added to their fire when Josh Adams won the restart but was tackled in the air with the offence unpunished.
However, Cardiff kept their cool and they dominated territory and possession for the next ten minutes, winning numerous penalties in the process. They kicked to the corner, took a tap penalty and finally rumbled over. Domachowski made a key carry and phases later Faletau drove over with the help of Josh McNally.
Sheedy knocked over the extras to make it 7-12 and he was back at the tee just five minutes later.
Again it was forward grunt that delivered the try with the pack making important inches with every carry before flanker Thomas burrowed over. Sheedy was off target from wide but Cardiff now held a 10-point lead after 19 minutes.
The Dragons had their chances but when they kicked to the corner on 23 minutes they quickly coughed up possession.
De Beer also missed back-to-back penalties from in front of the posts, but at some distance.
Cardiff had the opportunity to add more points to the board before half time but went to the corner, where they were ground to a halt. After going wide possession was lost and seconds later a penalty was conceded and Dragons kicked long. They attacked on the 22 as the clock was well into the red but were penalised for a dangerous clear out on Faletau.
The scores remained unchanged until the hour mark when Southworth drove over from close range. The opportunity came from fortuitous circumstances as a cruel bounce saw Alun Lawrence collect a Ben Thomas kick, while showing remarkable agility to keep the ball in.
That put Cardiff deep in Dragons territory and Tom Bowen almost scampered over following a fine off-load from Josh Adams. He beat one man before being tackled short inches from the line. From there it was back up the jumper and Southworth wrapped up the bonus-point with Sheedy converting to make it 7-24.
Ben Carter gave his side a glimmer of hope when he stretched over on 72 minutes and De Beer made it 14-24, before Angus O’Brien struck a penalty to give the Dragons a losing bonus point.
A hard-fought battle from start to finish, but Cardiff were able to see out the match for a 24-17 bonus point victory.