NEWPORT Gwent Dragons conceded the double to their biggest rivals as Cardiff Blues won at Rodney Parade for the first time to stretch their winning spell to an impressive five in a row which has lifted them into third place in the Celtic League table.

The Dragons never led at a wet Rodney Parade last night and, unlike against Munster 12 days earlier when they also conceded an early lead, there was no way back as the Blues took charge.

After the heights of their success against Munster the Dragons have hit a bad patch, losing against Connacht and the Blues with Saturday's game at Llanelli unlikely to yield anything either.

The Dragons came up short in a performance which was a mirror image of their games in the Heineken Cup this season - plenty of effort and commitment, but without enough ball carriers to make a sufficient dent in the opposition up front.

The Blues had several and, on top of that, a controlling pair of half backs in Mike Phillips and Nicky Robinson. Phillips' strength, particularly on the counter, was decisive while Robinson kicked to the corners well and dictated the course of the game.

The Dragons weren't helped by a referee who, frankly, struggled at this level. Tim Hayes gave the Blues the put-in at scrums when they had barely been turned and should have yellow-carded Rob Sidoli long before he did for pulling Luke Charteris down at a lineout.

Yet he had earlier harshly sent Dragons number eight Michael Owen for 10 minutes on the touchline for coming in from the wrong side.

And there was more controversy near the end when the Dragons were given a penalty, but instead of going for the corner and a possible driving line-out close in, the ball was handed to Aled Thomas for a kick at goal with Craig Warlow off the field and Ceri Sweeney still restricted in his kicking, but Thomas blazed wide.

"I had supporters throwing their season tickets at me in the stand, but I'll back my captain, he gets them right more than he gets them wrong," said coach Paul Turner after the game.

"He makes the decisions out there, it's ridiculous if coaches make decisions from a seat in the stand."

The loss of regular hooker Steve Jones, ruled out with a shoulder injury, was also a blow for the Dragons as the line-out throwing wasn't accurate enough.

It's a mystery why the Dragons and Wales don't make sure Charteris is properly utilised and protected because a throw to the 6ft 10ins giant ought to be the biggest guranteed ball in Welsh rugby. A few times he showed how easy it was, but the operation didn't work often enough.

With rain teeming down for most of the match it wasn't a night for handling and there was little opportunity for continuity, both sides favouring the kicking option and the Blues rather better at it because they had the superior platform.

They were that more streetwise and showed up the Dragons forward shortcomings which have been apparent all season.

But they battled hard right to the end, showing typical graft and spirit and at least had the minor satisfaction of another losing bonus point. Sadly, there have been too many of them.

The Blues were quicker out of the blocks and rocked the Dragons with a cracking eighth-minute try when skipper Rhys Williams ran out of his own 22 and linked with winger Chris Czekaj who made more ground before transferring inside to the supporting Phillips who completed the best move of the night with a super try.

Robinson converted and added a penalty to put the Dragons in trouble, but they battled back and Owen plunged over for a try when he gathered an ill-directed Blues line-out throw.

Warlow converted before Robinson struck a dropped goal and Warlow fired over a penalty to make it a 13-10 half-time deficit for the Dragons.

The Blues stretched away with their second try though they were down to 14 men after Sidoli was finally yellow-carded for upending Charteris.

The Dragons won a line-out, but lost the ball and Robinson and Craig Morgan handled before Czekaj sped across on the overlap.

Warlow replied with his second penalty, but the Dragons never really looked like overhauling their rivals as they conceded the double.

Dragons: A Thomas, G Wyatt, J Bryant, C Sweeney, N Brew, C Warlow (B Breeze 72), G Baber (J Ireland 67), A Black, A Brown, R Thomas, I Gough (P Sidoli 70), L Charteris, J Ringer (A Hall 67), M Owen, J Forster (captain). Scorers - try: M Owen; conversion: C Warlow; penalties: Warlow (2).

Blues: R Williams (captain), C Czekaj, M Stcherbina (L Thomas 76), T Davies, C Morgan, N Robinson, M Phillips, J Yapp, R Thomas, G Jenkins, D Jones, R Sidoli, K Schubert, X Rush, M Williams. Scorers - tries: M Phillips, C Czekaj; conversion, penalty, dropped goal: N Robinson.

Attendance: 7,113.