Dai Young was delighted as Cardiff claimed the spoils in a “ding-dong” Welsh derby victory at Rodney Parade.
A pair of Tomos Williams tries, either side of a Josh Adams score, looked to have given the Blue and Blacks a 15th consecutive victory over their East Wales rivals.
But the Dragons rallied and appeared on the verge of claiming the Boxing Day scalp, until one final twist in a highly entertaining encounter in Newport.
With just seconds left on the clock, Ellis Jenkins swooped for a turnover penalty, Jarrod Evans kicked right into the corner with the narrowest of angles and following a power-packed charge from Liam Belcher, Corey Domachowski was on hand to bludgeon his way over the whitewash for a match-winning bonus-point try.
Young said: “We showed a bit of perseverance towards the end. In the last 20 minutes, we got on the wrong side of the referee, but they were all penalties. I’ve got no complaints on that end the referee had a good game.
“Our set piece started to creak a little bit, they got their noses in front and it looked like a bit of a mountain for us.
“We were playing from our own half, but we found a way to get a really good turnover and a fantastic kick from Jarrod Evans put us in that position. A couple of great carries later we got our noses over the line.
“It’s always tight down here, it was a game that could’ve gone either way. There wasn’t much between the teams but to go away with five points we’re absolutely thrilled.
“The edge that we saw is what you expect in a Welsh derby. And what a great atmosphere as well - full house at Rodney Parade.
“It’s a great place to come and play rugby, a great place to come and try to silence the crowd as much as you can. But we kept them in the game right until the end!
“These games are really physical, with a lot of intensity and sometimes a bit of rugby breaks out, but there were some real good patches of play from us. To score four tries down here is something we’ve got to be pretty pleased with.
“I thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon. Welsh rugby gets knocked a lot, but if you look at today, anyone who watched that would’ve enjoyed the spectacle of a real, proper, ding-dong Welsh derby.”
The victory moved Cardiff to fifth in the BKT United Rugby Championship table and stretched their lead in the Welsh shield to ten points.
They now return to the Arms Park for back-to-back derbies against Ospreys and Scarlets. Tickets for both game are selling fast with limited availability for the Ospreys on New Year’s Day. To get your tickets today, click here.