MAYBE I was too quick loading the guns a couple of weeks ago, perhaps I was too hasty dismissing Newport Gwent Dragons as a basket case, though in my defence they had just suffered one mishap after another off the field and on it.

They had lost every Heineken Cup game in their pool for the first time, while at Christmas we had to endure another case of a Heineken Cup tie being moved to an alternative venue because the Rodney Parade pitch couldn’t withstand the heavy frosts.

Then there was the unfortunate Toby Faletau incident where he was unable to travel to Toulouse because he didn’t have the right documentation.

So it didn’t look good, everything just seeming to drift with no apparent direction and little drive or ambition anywhere.

And that was followed by the board decision to suspend head coach Paul Turner pending an internal inquiry after a number of incidents.

But out of adversity, as they say... fast forward two weeks and suddenly the picture appears a whole lot brighter.

The squad travelled up the M6 11 days ago to face Sale in the LV Cup under something of a cloud having just been informed of the Turner decision. But commendably they made light of it and produced one of their best spells of rugby all season to clinch a priceless away victory.

On their return they were greeted with the kind of information everyone wanted to hear - Tony Brown was back on the board and Dylan Matthews was with him.

Neither would be putting money in to provide big names as Brown had done in the past, though he is very much involved in financing the new stand.

But their very presence will lift the profile of the Dragons and bring some much needed stability and marketing expertise when the new hospitality area to the side of the stand is completed.

And so to the Scarlets game on Sunday which the Dragons needed to win to clinch a place in the LV semi-finals. Though a weakened visiting team gave them all the problems they wanted for an hour, they gradually got on top and scored three tries to secure victory.

Martyn Thomas completed his miraculous recovery from career threatening injuries to score two of them while fellow returnees Joe Bearman and Matthew Watkins contributed again to what now seems a fresh new approach.

It would be unwise to get too carried away - the scrum remains a problem with key props injured - but the fact is the Dragons are the only Welsh team to reach a knock-out stage this season.

It may be in the lesser competition, but they are there and no one can take that away from them. It was with some pleasure that I baited respected pundit Gwyn Jones afterwards on Sunday with the words “East is Best!”

Be that as it may, the Dragons must take their LV Cup form into the forthcoming Magners League games.

They have a golden opportunity to make progress up the table because their next three games are against Edinburgh and Glasgow, who will be way below strength because of international calls, with bottom team Aironi sandwiched between.

We wait to see if this could possibly be a new beginning or another false dawn.