Pro14: Dragons 20-30 Connacht - Irish province secure win despite Richard Hibbard hat-trick

Dragons slipped to Pro14 defeat against Connacht despite a hat-trick from veteran hooker Richard Hibbard.

The 37-year-old was driven over for three tries in his 50th Dragons game but Matt Healy, Abraham Papali'i, Caolin Blade and Tom Daly scored for Connacht in a bonus-point win.

Ireland fly-half Jack Carty kicked 10 points.

Connacht have four straight away wins for the first time since 2002 as Dragons suffered a sixth straight loss.

Full-back Jordan Williams and fly-half Sam Davies returned among eight Dragons changes, while Ireland internationals Finlay Bealham and Carty both reached 150 games for their province.

Davies opened the scoring with a penalty but Connacht crossed for the first try with wing Healy collecting a clever Carty cross kick.

The second try soon followed courtesy of a well-worked line-out move which saw hooker and man-of-the-match Shane Delahunt release the charging number eight Papali'i with a smart pass.

The hosts regrouped with Hibbard being driven over for his first try on his 50th Dragons appearance, and after prop Bealham was yellow-carded for Connacht's persistent offences under pressure, Hibbard crossed for his second try with another attacking line-out drive.

Carty levelled the scores at 13-13 just before half-time with a penalty and the Irish province took the lead with an early second-half score for scrum-half Blade after another Delahunt offload - Carty converting.

Hibbard claimed his hat-trick from another driving line-out before Connacht restored the lead through the bonus-point try with a fine run from centre Daly. Carty converted and added a drop-goal to deny the battling Dragons any match points.

Dragons remain fifth in Conference A while second-placed Connacht have closed the gap on leaders Munster in Conference B.

Dragons hooker Richard Hibbard told BBC Sport Wales:

"It's good to get it but with a maul hat-trick, it's not like I've run 70 metres, I was just at the back of a dominant pack and the boys in front put the effort in. I'd swap it for a win, it's a difficult one to take.

"We were optimistic all the way through and then it goes away from you with silly little errors.

"I am keen to play on, the body's feeling good and I've always said I'll go as long as I can, I'm enjoying being part of these Dragons. Dean Ryan's the sort of coach who re-ignites (enjoyment) so if I can play a small part in pushing the Dragons forward it's good."

Dragons director of rugby Dean Ryan told BBC Sport Wales:

"We weren't very good, after four or five weeks we didn't have the right energy, we lacked rhythm, we lacked direction and accuracy.

"If we'd had some of those things, that wasn't a game we should have had problems with, but we could have spent another ten minutes (trying to score at the end), I didn't know where it was going to come from.

"We look forward to getting back out there (against Edinburgh) but we've got a lot to do."

Dragons: Jordan Williams; Owen Jenkins, Jack Dixon, Jamie Roberts, Ashton Hewitt; Sam Davies, Rhodri Williams (capt); Brok Harris, Richard Hibbard, Lloyd Fairbrother, Ben Carter, Joe Maksymiw, Huw Taylor, Ben Fry, Harrison Keddie.

Replacements: Ellis Shipp, Greg Bateman, Chris Coleman, Joe Davies, Lewis Evans, Luke Baldwin, Josh Lewis, Aneurin Owen.

Connacht: John Porch; Peter Sullivan, Tom Daly, Peter Robb, Matt Healy; Jack Carty, Caolin Blade; Denis Buckley, Shane Delahunt, Finlay Bealham, Niall Murray, Gavin Thornbury, Paul Boyle (capt), Conor Oliver, Abraham Papali'i.

Replacements: Jonny Murphy, Jordan Duggan, Jack Aungier, Oisin Dowling, Eoghan Masterson, Kieran Marmion, Sean O'Brien, Alex Wootton.

Referee: Craig Evans (WRU)

Assistant referees: Ben Whitehouse, Adam Jones (both WRU)

TMO: Sean Brickell (WRU).