AN INCREDIBLY spirited display by the 14 men of Newport Gwent Dragons wasn’t enough to overcome Connacht at a rain-lashed Rodney Parade but they overcame the odds to earn a much-deserved bonus point.

The region had hoped to follow up their shock win at Guinness Pro12 leaders Leinster by claiming the scalp of another Irish province but the odds were stacked against them from the moment that Rynard Landman was red-carded with just 14 minutes on the clock.

Yet the South African will be faced with an almighty bar bill after his teammates showed incredible tenacity to emerge with a bonus point from an engrossing game in awful conditions, an effort that sees them climb above Cardiff Blues in the table.

They came through their character test with flying colours and you could make a good argument for it being their best home performance of the season given the circumstances.

The Dragons have thrived on the road this season but there have been plenty of games to forget at Rodney Parade this season and the writing was on the wall when Landman was dismissed.

For some reason the captain opted to raise his elbow when running past Jack Carty after the fly-half had booted the ball out of his half, catching him in the head and leaving Scottish official Lloyd Linton with no option but to show him red.

The South African has barely put a foot wrong since heading north from the Cheetahs but this was a moment of madness that will have long-term repercussions for the Dragons, let alone the 66 minutes they had to play a man light against Connacht.

It was out of character but it will now need the sort of baffling leniency previously shown towards his fellow locks Paul O'Connell and Martin Johnson when internationals are looming for Landman to feature in six weeks when Cardiff Blues head to town for the European Rugby Challenge Cup quarter-final on April 4.

The Dragons are well-stocked in the second row – with Ian Gough, Cory Hill and Matthew Screech now fighting to be Andrew Coombs' partner – but it is an almighty blow to be set for a long spell without an import who has swiftly become a talisman.

That being said, the 14 men did manfully against the 15 from Galway with every single player doing themselves proud in a lung-busting effort.

Last season's fixture between the sides at Rodney Parade, when Connacht romped to a 24-8 victory, encapsulated the Dragons' slide in the second half of the season.

The hope was that this time it would be part of their rise given that they had won 9 of their previous 12 fixtures in all competitions and were fresh from a stunning win in Dublin.

Alas, Landman's brainstorm meant that they were always going to be up against it in heavy going.

The Dragons had better not criticise the Galway weather if the wind is howling and the rain is lashing down when they visit the Sportsground next term because the Newport conditions were grim.

The hosts made a fine start when Tom Prydie smashed over a penalty won at the scrum but they suffered a double blow in the eighth minute.

Full-back Jason Tovey badly twisted his left ankle attempting to prevent a penalty finding touch five metres out and not only did that force his withdrawal but Connacht centre Craig Ronaldson powered over past Jack Dixon and Ashley Smith from the next play.

Carty added the simple conversion and then added a penalty for a 10-3 lead after 10 minutes.

And things got worse when Landman was dismissed, an event that didn't cost three points when Carty was wide with the penalty but left the Dragons with a mountain to climb.

The fly-half missed another very kickable penalty but made no mistake when adding the extras again when number eight Eoghan Masterson reached over in the 24th minute.

It looked like damage limitation with just under an hour to go yet the Dragons rallied and went close with two driving lineouts before sparking the Rodney Parade faithful into life with a well-crafted Hallam Amos try, Mr Linton awarding the score after checking that there was nothing wrong with Dixon's dummy run.

Prydie missed the conversion but kicked a penalty to cut the deficit to 17-11 at half-time – a super effort by the 14 men.

And they kept going in the early stages of the second half, showing remarkable determination to keep in touch before a pair of Darragh Leader penalties seemed to crack them approaching the hour.

At 23-11 a bonus point looked a long way off but somehow the Dragons dug deep again with Dixon powering over for a seven-pointer after the forwards had hammered away at the line.

It was, remarkably, game on.

It seemed there was going to be a cruel ending when Amos took too long clearing his lines to allow replacement flanker Mick Kearney to charge down, slide over and apply the killer blow.

But the Wales man made amends with a terrific slaloming run at the death to ensure the Dragons go level on points with Cardiff Blues.

Dragons: J Tovey (M Pewtner 9), T Prydie, J Dixon, A Smith, H Amos, D Jones, J Evans (R Rees 66), B Stankovich (L Fairbrother 78), R Thomas (R Buckley 66), B Harris (D Way 78), A Coombs, R Landman (captain), J Thomas, N Cudd (I Gough 25), N Crosswell. Replacements: R Buckley, L Fairbrother, D Way, I Gough, J Benjamin, R Rees, A Smith, M Pewtner.

Scorers: tries – H Amos, J Dixon; conversion – T Prydie; penalties – T Prydie (2)

Red card: R Landman

Connacht: D Leader, D Poolman, D McSharry, C Ronaldson, M Healy (N Adeolokun 79), J Carty (T O'Halloran 48), J Cooney (I Porter 78), D Buckley (F Bealham 35-40, 66), T McCartney, R Ah You (JP Cooney 78), Q Roux (M Kearney 55), A Muldowney, J Muldoon (captain), J Heenan, E Masterson (G Naoupu 70).

Scorers: tries – C Ronaldson, E Masterson, M Kearney; conversions – J Carty (2), D Leader; penalties – J Carty, D Leader (2)

Referee: Lloyd Linton (Scotland)

Attendance: 4,180

Argus star man: Andrew Coombs