The Jebel Ali Dragons collected five precious points as they moved back into second place in the Gulf Top Six.
Powered by a pair of Ian Overton tries at crucial times, the Dragons overcame Doha 40-20 to jump ahead of Bahrain who lost 23-17 to the Dubai Hurricanes.
Nick Taylor also grabbed a pair of tries with Ewan Sinclair and Taif Al Delamie also making it onto the scoresheet for the hosts. Murray Strang did the damage with the boot.
Doha had their periods of quality play but only had tries from Robbie Gaule (2) and Jamie Frost.
Dragons coach Ross Mills told Sport360°: “It was a good win, we made some mistakes but we need those points. At this stage it is just out about those five points. We did that, so we’re fine.”
Doha ran in a try inside the first five minutes to surprise the hosts before knocking over a penalty shortly afterwards for a 8-0 lead.
Dragons took their time hitting back. Slowly taking control of the game, Nick Taylor put down his first following a sustained spell of pressure 16 minutes into the game.
The passing got more expansive as the Dragons asserted themselves with attacking intent. An open space down the right flank was exploited by Ewan Sinclair to put down in the corner.
With a 12-8 lead, the Dragons held off a near-five minute period when Doha were camped almost on their line. Veteran Paul Hart eventually forced the decisive turnover to save the Dragons.
As half time fast approached, the Dragons counter-attacked a short missed penalty by Doha, eventually piling over the line for Taylor’s second try for a 17-8 half time lead. In the second half, Overton ran into the corner for a 22-8 lead before Doha hit back. Gaule made it 22-13.
Elsewhere, the Hurricanes did the Dragons a favour by defeating Bahrain 23-17. Chris Birch and Paul Hindshaw ran over the tries while Alan Foster hit a conversion and three penalties for the Canes in a game they dominated for the most part.
RESULTS
Dragons 22-13 Doha
Hurricanes 23-17 Bahrain
AD Saracens 18-40 A D Harlequins
