IF only Newport Gwent Dragons had shown the same grit, determination and wholehearted endeavour as they did against the Ospreys on Friday night in their previous few matches they would not be languishing near the foot of the Magners League table.

Successive games against Edinburgh, Glasgow and Connacht were either lost or drawn when they could so easily have been won with a bit of the fight and sheer devil they showed against overwhelming favourites the Ospreys.

Maybe the fact that it was a Welsh derby, perhaps being written off so heavily and given not the ghost of a chance that finally stirred them to give the kind of spirited performance for which they were noted in the past.

They still lost, of course, and they deserved to do so on the balance of play, but to confine a team made up of most of Wales' Grand Slam winning squad plus a few top New Zealanders to just one try and that only nine minutes from the end spoke volumes for the effort the team put in.

The Dragons are hardly likely to end up third best Welsh team, though mathematically they still have a chance, but they now know that they can even go to Dublin at the weekend if not exactly brimming with confidence they can beat Brian O'Driscoll & Co then at least in the knowledge that they can give a good account of themselves.

Already it looks like being a different story next season with a new look about it instead of the rather stale atmosphere surrounding the place at the moment, whatever the plus points about Friday night.

For a start, it looks as though as many as four New Zealanders are joining the Dragons, led by ex-All Black captain and hooker Tom Willis. Three of them have an all-important European qualification which should provide a big boost.

They are not current All Blacks, but they promise to be a significant improvement on the current situation and should give the squad a lift, apart from raising the profile of the team and attracting more support.

And while we are on the subject of an influx of New Zealanders those who are criticising it should look at their own sides and see what they've imported while they would do well to remember that the Dragons, probably more than any other region, chiefly out of necessity, do develop youngsters.

The latest is Jason Tovey, 19 only yesterday, thrown in at the deep end against the Ospreys and showing a maturity beyond his years, looking a decent prospect.

Added to the arrival of the New Zealanders, the Dragons are signing a few Welsh-based players and while they may not be out of the top drawer, so to speak, again they are good quality and promise to make the Dragons much more competitive.

And there is the development of Rodney Parade into a £40m, 15,000 capacity stadium, plus the likelihood of Bristol ground sharing for the next two seasons with top English teams like Wasps playing there.

Planning application for the Rodney Parade redevelopment has now gone in and everything looks to be proceeding on schedule on the entire site amounting to around £100m worth of investment including student flats, houses, shopping area, training barn and more.

So plenty is suddenly happening at Rodney Parade after the past couple of years when it's been gloom and doom.

There may not be any more money to bring major stars in on the field, but at least the future at last looks more promising.

And the Ospreys for all the millions they have spent were frankly pretty disgraceful on Friday night.

For starters such an expensively assembled side struggled to overcome basically limited opposition as, not for the first time, too many of their players got ahead of themselves.

On top of that a number tried to referee the game, often using foul language, making the job of the actual official in charge even more difficult even if he did miss a blatant forward pass in the one try they did score.

And all they could offer afterwards was a lame excuse that the Dragons came to spoil and only one side played any rugby. That is frankly pathetic. Surely they should be bigger than that.