NEWPORT Gwent Dragons’ miserable record in Ireland continued after they slipped to a 16-11 defeat to Connacht in their Guinness Pro12 opener.

The Rodney Parade region bagged a losing point for their efforts at the Sportsground but in truth did not deserve more than that after an error-strewn display.

A spell down to 13 men in the second half when the score was 8-8, following yellow cards for skipper Lee Byrne and centre Tyler Morgan, proved to be crucial with Connacht taking command.

Yet the Dragons still had a chance to burgle the points with the last play only to once again be let down by their inaccuracy from a driving lineout, leaving the players to cut frustrated figures as they left the field.

The region headed over the Irish sea with a woeful away record against the four provinces; they hadn’t triumphed in Ireland since their 2008 success against Ulster in Belfast while their sole success in Galway was back in 2004.

They won’t have had many better chances than this one as Connacht, without their three high-profile Kiwi recruits Mils Muliaina, Bundee Aki and Tom McCartney and Ireland ace Robbie Henshaw, were also far from their best.

They hosts dominated the opening exchanges against a Dragons side that made far, far too many errors despite the perfect conditions.

One of those mistakes led to the opening score after 10 minutes when fly-half Jason Tovey missed touch with a penalty and the hosts ran it back with number eight Eoin McKeon crossing after good work by right wing Niyi Adeolokun.

Centre Darragh Leader, who had earlier struck the left post with a penalty, somehow missed the simple conversion but soon made amends when he banged over a long range penalty to make it 8-0.

The Dragons seemed a tad anxious but gradually settled with captain Lee Byrne proving to be a calming, and classy, presence at full-back.

And the visitors were level after half an hour after flanker Nic Cudd finished off a brilliant team move down the right before Tovey banged over a penalty that also saw home centre Dave McSharry sent to the sin bin for killing the ball close to his line.

But the Dragons were unable to make the extra man count and headed into the break on level terms at 8-8 after having an Andrew Coombs try chalked off for a knock-on close to the line.

A rare win in Ireland was there for the taking if they could look after the ball better and cut out the errors but they were under the pump when Byrne was yellow-carded in the 50th minute.

The skipper was fuming after being sin-binned for taking out Jack Carty in the air, believing the home fly-half had made a meal of it.

But regardless of the rights and wrongs, the 14-man Dragons were soon playing catch-up again after Leader banged over a penalty won at scrum time.

It got worse when teenage centre Tyler Morgan joined his captain in the sin bin for going off his feet at a ruck and Connacht scented blood.

They went for the corner with the penalty and then wing Danie Poolman finished acrobatically from Carty’s pinpoint crosskick to make it 16-8 approaching the hour.

The Dragons rallied and gave themselves a shot at an unlikely victory when Tovey knocked over a beautiful penalty with four minutes left.

And they had one last chance when they kicked a penalty to the corner in the last minute only for Connacht to defend stoutly to ensure the visitors would head back to Wales with one point rather than four.

Connacht: S Layden, N Adeolokun, D Leader (C Finn 65), D McSharry, D Poolman, J Carty (M Nikora 65), I Porter (K Marmion 52), D Buckley (F Bealham 79), D Heffernan (S Henry 74), N White (R Ah You 60), M Kearney, Q Roux, J Muldoon (captain, W Faloon 56), J Heenan, E McKeon (G Naoupu 40).

Scorers: tries – E McKeon, D Poolman; penalties – D Leader (2)

Yellow cards: D McSharry

Dragons: L Byrne (captain), T Prydie, T Morgan, J Dixon (B Nightingale 78), A Brew, J Tovey (G R Jones 78), J Evans ( D Jones), B Stankovich (O Evans 74), E Dee (R Thomas 60), L Fairbrother (D Way 62), A Coombs (I Gough 57), R Landman, L Evans, N Cudd, A Powell (T Faletau 54).

Scorers: tries – N Cudd; penalties – J Tovey (2)

Yellow cards: L Byrne, T Morgan

Referee: Marius Mitrea (Italy)

Attendance: 4,213