DESPITE playing as though they had still not recovered from their Heineken Cup blues, Newport Gwent Dragons remained on course for a top-four Celtic League finish with this narrow win at Rodney Parade on Saturday.

It was impossible to fault the Dragons' efforts as all the players put their bodies on the line in defence, but it was tough going almost until the final whistle as their Scottish rivals refused to lie down and staged a grandstand finish.

In terms of territory and possession, Glasgow had the better of things.

Another commanding effort from Ian Gough apart, the Dragons' lineout again did not function well, while they were also under heavy pressure in the scrums early on. Glasgow's driving forward play in the loose also caused them problems, but with skipper Jason Forster leading the way they defended strongly and seldom looked like conceding a try.

It was in their three-quarter play where the Dragons held a distinct edge, though they could never win sufficient ball to really cut loose, while the constant rain and difficult conditions were against running rugby.

And some of their big-name international players were certainly not at their best, scrum- half Gareth Cooper too often caught in possession and guilty of playing a dry-weather game, outside-half partner Ceri Sweeney again looking low in confidence, and No 8 Michael Owen failing to make the yardage perhaps too often expected of him.

Coach Chris Anderson will stand by his Welsh pivot, but one of the biggest cheers from the 4,072 crowd came late in the game when Percy Montgomery was handed a kick to touch after Sweeney had been replaced.

Sweeney had again failed too often with his line kicking, and surely it makes more sense when a player is struggling to take a little pressure off him so that he can concentrate on other aspects of his game.

Overall, the game was of a pretty mediocre standard, even allowing for the weather, but the Dragons will be content to have avoided an Edinburgh-type banana skin and to have consolidated their position as No 2 Welsh region following the Scarlets' heavy defeat in Scotland.

The Dragons went ahead after 15 minutes when they chose to send a kickable penalty to touch, Gough won the lineout and the pack drove to the line before spreading the ball for Sweeney to cut inside to score and convert.

The Dragons might have had a couple more tries when lively hooker Steve Jones twice broke through, on one occasion allowing Sweeney to send a long pass to the impressive Kevin Morgan before knocking on a difficult return pass a yard out.

But within two minutes of that miss a wayward free kick by Glasgow outside-half Dan Parks was returned with interest by Montgomery, who forced a lineout on the visitors' line which Gough again won before prop Chris Anthony was driven over.

Soon after Parks reduced the deficit to 14-3 with a penalty after the Dragons had been caught offside on their 22 as Glasgow finished the half strongly, and inside a minute of the restart he had dropped a goal.

But back came the Dragons, and after one opportunity had been wasted, centre Hal Luscombe broke clean through the defence from near halfway to send Montgomery over for the third converted try.

But if the Dragons thought it was game over they were mistaken, as Glasgow dominated the final quarter to be rewarded with a bonus point when Canadian prop Kevin Tkachuk crashed over for a try that Parks converted before adding a late penalty.

The Dragons might have added a bonus point in the final seconds, but instead of keeping the play alive Cooper kicked a penalty inside the Glasgow 22 to touch and the referee blew for time.

Dragons: P Montgomery, G Wyatt, H Luscombe, S Tuipulotu (R Oakley 74min), K Morgan, C Sweeney (C Warlow 66min), G Cooper (G Baber 74min), A Black (R Snow 59min), S Jones (J Richards 59min), C Anthony (R Thomas 66min), I Gough, P Sidoli (L Charteris 63min), J Ringer, J Forster, M Owen. Scorers: tries: Sweeney, Anthony, Montgomery; conversions: C Sweeney (three).

Glasgow: K Logan, D Millard (C Shaw 59min), A Craig, A Henderson (G Morrison 59min), R Lamont, D Parks, G Beveridge, K Tkachuk, G Bulloch (S Lawson 54min), A Kelly (B Prescott 63min), J Beardshaw, D Turner (A Hall 52min), S Swindall, C Mather, J Petrie.

Scorers: try: Tkachuk; conversion: Parks; penalties: Parks (two); dropped goal: Parks.