The Dragons, depleted by injuries and illness, missed the jump badly and trailed 14-0 after conceding three tries before finally hitting back through Jannalia Eldridge to cut margin back to 10 at the half.

The hosts made all the running in the second, with Josie Strong barging her away across from close range early in the second half.

A length-of-the-field effort from Brittany Constable gave them a 16-14 lead, and seemingly all the momentum, but they couldn't land the killer blow.

It gave the Rams a sniff and they made it count with a late try to Chloe White snatching a two-point win with two minutes left.

The Dragons were without skipper Rachael Pearson, key forward Jen Latu and star back Olivia Barry but Bezzina said his side simply didn't build any pressure.

"We only had six sets in the first half and we only completed three," Bezzina said.

"To go into the sheds at 14-4 showed what we could do if we just held the ball. We did that in the second half and got in front and then it was just one error that put them back on our line with three minutes to go.

"It's only 25 minutes each way so you've got to take your opportunities. We got back in front and we made a simple error off a scrum.

"I think if we'd hung onto the ball there we probably would have scored and gone out further. It's disappointing but that's footy."