LEWIS EVANS: Dragons' Judgement Day win shows what we are capable of

A Judgement Day victory has been a long time coming and we deserved it last weekend to finish a tough season on a high.

We've had some dark moments this year after a change in management and then all the uncertainty over Project Reset.

There has been frustration in recent months with big decisions being made over the future of the sport – and ultimately individuals' careers – with little or no chance of input.

That made it a turbulent time for everyone, so to beat a confident Scarlets team in a fast-flowing game was a massive boost for all involved.

The nice atmosphere when doing a final debrief on Tuesday just goes to show the difference a win can make.

Seeing smiles on faces from the victory makes you forget about the surrounding negativity, it reminds you that we are a good team and helps you realise what we are capable of.

Our derby performances have been strong this season and we know that we have to put in those displays more consistently throughout the year; that's what we will work hard towards achieving over a long pre-season, with a new head coach in place.

The vibe was good during the build-up with arguably the best training week of the year – everyone knew the task at hand and was primed to deliver the game plan.

We went into the game with a driving mentality and with the knowledge that we had to stand up to them at the scrum.

In the last few meetings we have been in the game, fighting for every minute, but one area where we did come second best was at the set piece.

The Ospreys of old would do that to us, they'd chuck the kitchen sink at us, we'd deal with that through a resilient defence for 50/60 minutes but then they'd go back to the scrum and lineout to grind it out with penalties and driving mauls, demoralising us with their power game.

As a pack we knew that we had to put in a big display up front at set piece and stopping momentum off nine if we were to cause an upset against the Scarlets.

They came out with a really direct approach and there were some big collisions – Matthew Screech on Samson Lee, Ross Moriarty on Josh Macleod – and we dealt with that.

Imposing ourselves was important when we had the chance, and route one was the way we agreed to do it first off.

They are a team that tend to be good at bending the laws in the maul but they missed Jake Ball through injury, who is a maul-destroying machine, and thankfully we were refereed fairly in that area this game.

Unfortunately, the yellow card to Hallam Amos was a momentum swing that led to the Scarlets getting on top; using the numerical advantage with the extra man out wide.

It was frustrating that we didn't make the most of some opportunities before half-time but we knew that we were still in the game, especially if we started well.

We did that and cut down our amount of errors while forcing the Scarlets into more uncharacteristic mistakes due to increased pressure.

We are a different side when our confidence is up and the difference was that all of the boys put their hands up with strong performances.

Recently it has been eight to ten of the boys firing on all cylinders in game but we need the whole XV with where we are at as a team at the moment to win after 80 minutes.

As a group we may have to accept some criticisms but I don't think we can ever be accused of lacking work rate, character or guts. We fight like hell but sometimes we can lack concentration at times in the game or heads can drop too quickly when the tide slowly turns.

We have to accept that is an area of weakness that needs work for next season because we showed by fighting back twice against the Scarlets that we are a resilient bunch and that having confidence and belief is so important to success.

It was a tense finish while the TMO checked Screech's second try – with replays of my attempt at the line, Matthew's try and then even Richard Hibbard's carry the phase before to see if there was a knock on – but thankfully the all-clear was given.

That was a massive relief because at times you can't help but get the feeling we don't get the rub of the green and that we rarely get the 50/50 calls.

When you are a side down at the wrong end of the table it feels like there is a real negative perception of the team, if feels that officials sometimes really look to see what we are doing constantly and not so much on the opposition.

Hopefully with better performances and wins next year, this perception will be gone and it won't be just us on the field who feel we can win games.

Anyway, luckily this time the referee's arm went up to award the try and Jason Tovey showed his class and why he is closing in on fourth in the league's all-time scoring by knocking over the match-winner and what was a much tougher kick than I initially thought.

It's testament to his character and to the other boys who have been playing with uncertainty in recent months and for those boys who will be playing elsewhere next year, I thank you on behalf of the rest of the squad. We appreciate your hard work over the last year and we wish you all the best.

As a group we would also like to thank the fans who have been there with us through all the highs and lows of the year, and we hope to see you next year.

And finally, to those who have re-signed, we have a tough yet exciting year ahead – rest up for pre-season in June as it's going to be a big year!