KINGSLEY Jones lamented Newport Gwent Dragons’ lack of composure after a 'capitulation' that saw them snatch defeat in Edinburgh from the jaws of a rare away victory.

The Dragons looked certain to win their first away game of the season when they led 20-3 with 70 minutes gone of their Guinness PRO12 trip to Myreside thanks to tries by wing Pat Howard and full-back Carl Meyer.

However, they shipped three converted tries in the closing stages to go down to a 24-20 loss that means they have endured a second successive PRO12 whitewash away from Rodney Parade.

“To capitulate like that, when we have been 20-3 up away from home then have 10 seconds left to control the ball, is hard to take,” said the head coach.

“I haven’t been involved as a coach in too many games where you lose like that and it’s heart-breaking for the players.

“They put a lot into it but they know themselves that there were missed tackles in the last 10 minutes that led to line breaks and line breaks lead to tries.

“We didn’t defend well high up the field, which we had done all game up until then, and it cost us dearly.

“Under pressure we make silly decisions and have no composure. We started the game making a few errors but we cut them out and for 50 minutes there was only one team in it.

“It’s a fine line between us standing here having a really nice conversation and this feeling of devastation.

“The boys were really hurting in the changing room because this was a huge game for us. I can’t fault the effort and commitment but yet again we didn’t get the result we needed.”

While Jones was despondent, counterpart Duncan Hodge was beaming after his side burgled the spoils to end a nine-game losing streak.

“We just needed a bit of a shot in the arm to give us confidence and as soon as we scored, we scored three in 10 minutes,” said the interim head coach.

"We probably worked harder in that last 15 minutes than we had for most of the game, and that is what we will take from this. We had to work that hard for the whole game.

"Some of the intensity wasn't there for most of the game. It was there for 20 minutes and then it nose-dived until the final 15 minutes. To be honest we were probably a bit desperate at the end.”

The Dragons would have gone above Edinburgh into ninth with victory but now head into their final game of the season against Cardiff Blues in Caerphilly looking over their shoulder at Zebre and Treviso, who meet in Parma next Saturday.

Full-back Meyer will be monitored after suffering a ribs injury when illegally cleared out of a ruck and the Dragons hope to have centre Tyler Morgan (also ribs) back in contention.