Treviso beat the Dragons

Editor

Treviso picked up their first victory of the PRO12 season on Friday as they got the better of the Dragons, winning 27-11 at Stadio Monigo.

Treviso controlled the first 27 minutes, going 10-0 in front through Tommaso Benvenuti's try and Tommaso Allan's five points.

The Dragons hit back when Rynard Landman touched down and Angus O'Brien scored a penalty, but Filo Paulo gave the Italian outfit a match-winning buffer.

Allan and O'Brien then traded three-pointers but Benetton secured the win as Marco Fuser went over to complete a fine evening's work.

Both teams have opened this campaign in customary fashion, struggling to pick up victories against the better teams in the division.

Only the visitors went into this encounter with a victory, an 11-6 win over one of the other PRO12 strugglers in Zebre, and it was no surprise the first quarter produced a low quality contest.

Adam Warren did open up Treviso's defence with a 60-metre break but those moments were few and far between for Kingsley Jones' men.

O'Brien's missed penalty after seven minutes summed up the first half for the Welsh region as the hosts began to dominate.

Allan kicked Treviso in front before they put their opponents under significant duress and Benvenuti rewarded their excellence by touching down.

To the Dragons' credit, despite struggling during the opening half-hour, their response was immediate. O'Brien and Carl Meyer found the space on the counter-attack and Landman was the player to eventually cross the whitewash as they reduced the deficit to 10-5.

The visiting fly-half missed the chance to add the extras but kicked a three-pointer on the stroke of half-time to keep them in contention at the interval.

However, the visitors were dealt a blow at the start of the second period when Paulo went over out wide, a score which was converted by Allan.

With the Dragons nine points in arrears Jones' men began to look more dangerous, but Treviso's defence remained stout and a three-pointer by their fly-half was reward for the squad's resilience.

Although O'Brien gave the Welsh region hope with a penalty, Fuser touched down late on to complete the victory.

The scorers:

For Treviso:
Tries: Benvenuti, Paulo, Fuser
Cons: Allan 3
Pens: Allan 2

For Dragons:
Try: Landman
Pens: O'Brien 2

Treviso: 15 Jayden Hayward, 14 Angelo Esposito, 13 Tommaso Benvenuti, 12 Alberto Sgarbi (c), 11 Luke McLean, 10 Tommaso Allan, 9 Giorgio Bronzini, 8 Dean Budd, 7 Marco Lazzaroni, 6 Francesco Minto, 5 Filo Paulo, 4 Marco Fuser, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Ornel Gega, 1 Nicola Quaglio
Replacements: 16 Luca Bigi, 17 Alberto De Marchi, 18 Cherif Traore, 19 Filippo Gerosa, 20 Abraham Steyn, 21 Tito Tebaldi, 22 Ian McKinley, 23 David Odiete

Dragons: 15 Carl Meyer, 14 Ashton Hewitt, 13 Tyler Morgan, 12 Adam Warren, 11 Hallam Amos (c), 10 Angus O’Brien, 9 Charlie Davies, 8 Ed Jackson, 7 Nic Cudd, 6 James Thomas, 5 Rynard Landman, 4 Cory Hill, 3 Lloyd Fairbrother, 2 Rhys Buckley, 1 Sam Hobbs
Replacements: 16 Thomas Rhys Thomas, 17 Thomas Davies, 18 Craig Mitchell, 19 Matthew Screech, 20 Harri Keddie, 21 Luc Jones, 22 Sam Beard, 23 Geraint Rhys Jones

Referee: Johnny Lacey (Ireland)
Assistant Referees: Sean Gallagher (Ireland), Peter Fitzgibbon (Ireland)