DRAGONS boss Filo Tiatia praised talented full-back Huw Anderson for ‘lighting up’ the Challenge Cup win against Newcastle.

The Rodney Parade club boosted their knockout chances with a 22-14 success at Kingston Park, a first victory since edging out the Ospreys on opening weekend.

Loosehead Rodrigo Martinez crashed over in the first half and then number eight Aaron Wainwright and full-back Anderson, on his first professional start, went over after the break.

The novice 15 was invited to train with Wales in the autumn internationals and showed his pace with the breakaway try, while his offloads were a feature of a very promising outing.

Anderson wasn’t the only promising prospect to grasp their chance with lock Nick Thomas and back rower Evan Minto making their debuts on a morale-boosting afternoon.

Dragons Huw Anderson (right) celebrates his try with Dragons teammate Cai Evans (Image: Richard Sellers)

“I thought the young fellas who got an opportunity a lot of them stood out,” said interim head coach Tiatia. “Overall, I’m happy, the majority of the squad have all had a crack and showed their hand.

“Huw Anderson certainly lit it up, he was exciting. We know what he can do, like most young guys they just need a chance and he was very good.

“Really happy for both Nicky and Minto, I really admire the way they carry themselves as young men.

“I asked Minto how old he was and he’s still 18, it was a bit quicker than he was used to, so he got exposed to that intensity and speed.

“Really proud of [recent signing] Paula Latu, coming on after a short week, arriving Monday and able to front up and produce what he can do.”

The Dragons put themselves under pressure by losing to Montpellier in round one but now have five match points.

With the four of the six teams in Pool Two progressing to the last 16, Tiatia’s men will give themselves a shot at qualification if they beat Pau in January with a tough last fixture at the Lions to finish.

“I’m proud of the effort,” said Tiatia. “Really happy that we came out the other side. The boys dug in deep and there were good moments.

“I thought we capitalised and built a lot of momentum, there were a couple of chances we didn’t take but I’m really happy.”

“I thought the pack were really good from a set-piece perspective,” he continued. “Some of our collision work we have to keep working on both sides of the ball but when we got it right, we built a lot of momentum and played in the right areas of the field.”

The Dragons will now recover before starting preparations for their festive derbies with a packed house hoping to see the Cardiff hoodoo ended on Boxing Day before a New Year’s Day trip to the Scarlets.