With the addition of a handful of Dragons' juniors, coupled with the likes of Fred Beserve, Aaron Magney and Lawrence Brown, the Dragons were able to play most of the senior players in their preferred positions for all three games against Bay Street. Sadly, this didn't translate into victory in any of them.

The 3rds, playing for the first time this season, actually made a decent fist of it. After going down 12-0 inside of ten minutes, they struck back either side of the half to make a competitive second 40. The juniors definitely made a positive impact, particularly in the three-quaters, while Kelvin Yu was among the second half scorers for the Dragons. Eventually though, the Pigs were able to stretch their way to 29-15 with 15 minutes remaining.

Both sides continued to push hard, but a lack of clinical finishing mean that neither one looked like overwhelming the other. A late Dragons score made the final result 29-20 - a more than respectable outcome for a makeshift side getting their first runout.

The Seconds got off to something of a stuttering start, and while their go-forward play was solid, they were bitty in defence... struggling to contain the oppositions' strong running back row. This led to two unanswered tries in the first half, one coming from a rolling maul, the other from a powerful gallop from the Pigs No8 that took them to within yards of the line, before he fed a supporting runner to touch down by the posts. That, combined with a smattering of points from the boot, meant they were 19 points adrift at the half.

A stern talking to from Donny Mack (who was having an excellent game) did the job though, as early in the second half they were able to string a couple of phases together to themselves inside the opposition 22, before the Mack Truck himself powered his way through outstretched arms for the score. Smith added the extras to make it 19-7. The Pigs strucks back, with the back row again involved to make it 24-7, but as the half started to play out it was a became a much more even contest.

Not long after the Pigs score, the Dragons again found themselves in the Pigs 22, this time with possession at a line out. Quick ball to scrum-half Robbie Egan off the top was meant to go wide, but he suddenly found himself in acres of space having dummied the tail of the line out and made a break for the line. Just as he was hauled down, Brendon Smith appeared on his shoulder and took the ball at pace, crossing next to the posts to make it 24-12.

The next score came from the Dragons' again, Rich Lynch being the one to appear from underneath a pile of bodies after a series of forward drives got the better of the Bay Street defence - 24-19. The Pigs though had the last word of the game with forward and backs combining well to outstretch the tiring Dragon's defence to make it 31-19. A solid effort though from a side who could have folded after the first 20 minutes. Full credit for sticking in the match and making the Pigs work for the win.

It's difficult to say the same about the Dragon's 1sts XV. Despite being able to field a side of decent strength, they were unable to bring the intensity of last week's game against the Saracens to Sunnybrook. That, combined with some quality rugby from the opposition, meant they were chasing the game within the first five minutes... by which point the Pigs had already scored two tries and the Dragons had lost Elliott Taylor to a leg injury, which brought Donny Mac into the back row.

A Nick Hails penalty gave the side a glimmer of hope, but it didn't last as the Pigs ran riot in the first half, especially out wide. They also displayed solid support play, fierce running into contact and a willingness to be competitive at the breakdown. All of which meant they close to 50 points up at half time.

The Dragons made a better fist of it in the second half, going close on three occasions before finally getting over the line through workhorse flanker David Baillie. They also conceded far fewer points thanks to a better defensive effort, although the Pigs put in a decent shift of their own to deny the Dragons any more scores, with the final result 76-8 (or thereabouts).

Tough to find the positives in this one. A better mindset may have led to a tighter scoreline, but they were outclassed on the day and will have to regroup for what is now a must win game against the newly promoted Yeoman this coming weekend.