GLASGOW’s hopes of going into Europe with two consecutive league wins under their belt for the first time this season were dashed last night in dramatic fashion.

Brandon Thomson only had to convert the last kick of the game at Scotstoun, from only slightly to the right of the posts, to give his team an improbable victory. Instead, his kick came crashing back off an upright to bring the match to an agonising end.

Hooker Johnny Matthews had thrown the Warriors a lifeline with a stoppage-time score at the end of a second half dominated by the visitors, but Danny Wilson, for one, thought his team would scarcely have deserved a win.

“It is a tough one to swallow, but we didn’t play well enough,” the Glasgow head coach said. “At the end when we did get field position and were able to build pressure we came away with a good try, but we weren’t good enough in that second half and we didn’t therefore deserve the win – so credit to the Dragons. We didn’t play well enough in the second half to put anything on Brandon’s shoulders.”

Tries from Fotu Lokotui on his first start and Sean Kennedy had helped Glasgow to a 14-10 half-time lead after a bright start by the visitors saw them go ahead through a Jared Rosser try and five points from the boot of Sam Davies. That score was not a bad return for Dragons given they had two men sin-binned, and back at full strength after the break they began to dominate.

A converted Brok Harris try put them in front, then after a Horne penalty had made it 17-17, Davies struck with a penalty and a drop goal. The Warriors’ cause was hampered when Lee Jones was sin-binned, and then Alex Allan was forced off with an achilles injury. Matthews thought he had done enough at the death, but Thomson’s miss meant Glasgow ended up with only a losing bonus point.

Scorers: Glasgow: Tries: Lokotui, Kennedy, Matthews. Cons: Horne 2. Pen: Horne.

Dragons: Tries: Rosser, Harris. Cons: Davies 2. Pens: Davies 2. Drop goal: Davies.

Glasgow Warriors: G Bryce; L Jones, N Grigg, R Fergusson, N Matawalu (R Tagive 62); P Horne (B Thomson 65), S Kennedy (J Dobie 61); A Seiuli (A Allan 62), G Stewart (J Matthews 68), E Pieretto (D Rae 56), L Bean, K McDonald, R Harley, F Lokotui (T Ioane 48), R Wilson (captain). Unused substitute: H Bain.

Dragons: J Lewis; J Rosser, J Dixon (N Tompkins 57), J Roberts, A Hewitt; S Davies, R Williams (captain); B Harris (C Maguire 62), E Shipp (R Hibbard 57), A Jarvis, B Carter (J Maksymiw 57), M Screech, H Keddie, T Basham (H Taylor 53), O Griffiths.

Unused substitutes: C Coleman, T Knoyle, O Jenkins.

Yellow cards: Dragons: Keddie 9, Dixon 29. Glasgow: Jones 63.

Referee: C Busby (Ireland).