Young offers blunt assessment of Dragons loss

Interim Dragons coach Dean Young has a reputation for telling it like it is and his assessment of Sunday's 23-22 loss to the Cowboys was typically blunt and succinct.

For the second time in as many weeks, the Dragons looked in command of a match only to concede two soft tries and a golden-point match-winner to Valentine Holmes down the stretch.

It came hot on the heels of conceding two tries in the final four minutes to go down by four to the Titans last week and it's a trend that's getting all too familiar for Young just three games into his interim tenure.

"Same shit, different day," Young said.

"Again, for the second week in a row, the game was there to be won in the last five minutes which is what this club wants to be about. We want to be fighting for the full 80 minutes, right to the death, but this club deserves to win as well.

"At the moment, there's individuals not getting their jobs done and that's what costing this team. The last two weeks it's been right there for us and the boys spoke about it, they felt like we lost, they didn't win. That's no disrespect to the Cowboys but they just felt they've let themselves down.

"It's about us continuing on the inroads we've been trying to make in the last couple weeks in being consistent, disciplined and competing. There's certainly signs of all that stuff but we need to get the job done and we're not doing it at the moment."

Corey Norman had 12 carries and three line breaks and also produced a try-saving tackle on runaway flyer Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow with three minutes left.

It opened the door for Zac Lomax to level the scores at 22-all with just over two minutes on the clock, but Norman was left ruing a wayward shot at field goal from 45 metres out two minutes into extra time.

Norman got a huge piece of his first attempt but it drifted wide, surrendering a seven-tackle set. Holmes didn't get the clean look he was after at the other end, with Ben Hunt charging down his attempt, but the Dragons weren't able to reel in the deflection.

It handed possession back to the hosts, with Holmes making no mistake on his second effort at the one-pointer. Young admitted his side could've handled the extra time period better, but said it was moments in regular time that cost his side.

"I learning out of that game for everybody is that the first opportunity you get for a field goal might not be the best way to go about it because you've got the seven tackles which can hurt you," he said.

"If we kicked into the corner and had a big d set and got some field position it might have been a better way to go but if Normy nails it from 40 out I'm sitting here pretty happy with him.

"It went wrong with people not getting their jobs done. It's a dropped ball at a crucial time or we're doing some good things and we invite them into the game with fundamental errors.

"Even fundamental movements in defence, stuff we work really, really hard on, when the pressure's on, we're not nailing it at the moment."

The Dragons could've been on the board twice in the opening four minutes, with Jordan Pereira and Mikaele Ravalawa spilling the ball with the line open.

They were made to pay when Francis Molo barged through some flimsy defence to score under the posts and give the hosts a 6-0 lead.

Things turned back the visitors way with Euan Aitken crossing after a break from Norman, with Lomax converting to level up at 6-all after 25 minutes.

They took the lead after Ravalwa atoned for his earlier error with an incredible inch-perfect finish, staying millimetres inside the sideline chalk to post his side's second four-pointer.

Lomax provided the flick pass but couldn't add the extras from the sideline, keeping the margin at four eight minutes before the break.

Norman broke the Cowboys open again a minute before the break but he couldn't find Aitken with the final final pass that went to ground.

Adam Clune, who delivered the pass that put Norman clear, was held back in the lead-up, allowing Lomax to grab a penalty goal and take a six-point cushion into halftime.

The Cowboys hit back in the first set of the second half, with Jake Clifford crossing in the corner after the Dragons let his bomb bounce.

It fell into the arms of Kyle Feldt who found Clifford for the opening try of the stanza, with Holmes nailing the extras from the sideline to square the ledger at 12 apiece.

the deadlock was short-lived, with Clune putting Jacob Host across for his second try in as many weeks to re-take a six-point lead with Lomax's conversion.

The tit for tat continued, with Holmes he beneficiary of a deft inside pass from Drinkwater and converting his own try to make it 18-all.

A strip from Reuben Cotter in front of his own sticks gifted Lomax the chance to go ahead by two with 17 minutes to play, but they were trailing again when Feldt strolled across at the other end.

Holmes' conversion attempt was waved away, keeping it two-point ball-game heading into the eventful home stretch.