DUBAI // It must feel unfair playing against Jebel Ali Dragons sometimes.
Just when they think you have them where you want them, they find an extra gear and leave you crushed.
The rest of the Gulf Top Six peloton are probably ruing the day Abu Dhabi Harlequins did a job on the West Asia champions.
Quins were the side who poked the beast when they trounced the Dragons in the opening fixture of this season.
Everybody else has been paying for it since.
Dubai Hurricanes were the latest side left licking Dragons-inflicted wounds on Friday.
This was the third successive win since that hefty defeat a month ago, and it was an impressive show of strength in the depth of the Dragons squad.
Hurricanes must have thought they had a chance when they saw the champions’ list of absentees.
Dan Bell was injured, Imad Reyal was attending a wedding, Richie Leyden has retired, Paul Hart has momentarily given in to the ageing process.
And Andy Russell was still 30 minutes away when play kicked off. If you picked a league select XV, that lot might provide the core. So it was left to the likes of Ross Samson, Murray Strang, Nick Taylor and Sean Crombie to hold the fort instead. Those playing riches are embarrassing.
Hurricanes will have felt they had a chance, too, when they held an 10-8 lead just after half-time when Harry Woods scored in the corner.
Then Russell, who arrived from work with 10 minutes left of the first half, started to do his thing, and shortly after the Dragons were out of sight.
Crombie scored two poacher’s tries, belying the fact he is supposed to be a hooker, Al Delamie touched down after a breakaway, which took the away side to a bonus point when added to a first-half score by Taylor.
“The good thing about this side is they have a habit about putting bad days at the office [like the opening day loss to Quins] behind them,” said Ross Mills, the Dragons coach.
“I don’t know why they do it, but people like to keep writing us off. But we have just improved step by step after being hammered by Quins.
“We are building and building, some of our injured players are coming back. We will be there or thereabouts at the end of the league.”
pradley@thenational.ae