Dragons lose in Italy
Newport-Gwent Dragons slumped to a fourth Magners League defeat of the season, losing 20-13 to Benetton Treviso.
Last Updated: 01/10/10 9:35pm
Newport-Gwent Dragons slumped to a fourth Magners League defeat of the season after Chris Burton's late try secured Benetton Treviso a 20-13 victory.
The Welsh side had been 13-3 down early on, but rallied to level the scores thanks to tries from Scott Morgan and Phil Price.
But their hopes of a draw, or better, were dashed when Burton crossed in the 76th minute and Tobias Botes added the extras, leaving the Dragons with only a bonus point for their efforts.
Having lost to Welsh opposition last time out, when they were beaten by the Cardiff Blues, the Italians were looking for a strong response. They got it, bringing up a third win in five outings in this season's competition.
They fell behind in the 17th minute when Matthew Jones landed a penalty, but Burton responded with a drop-goal three minutes later.
Treviso's Fabio Semenzato and Dragons centre Robert Sidoli were both sin-binned early on, and Botes kicked the home side ahead with a penalty after 27 minutes.
Italy international Robert Barbieri gave the home side breathing space with the first try of the match after 32 minutes, going over from close range as Treviso's forwards pushed for the line following a line-out. Botes booted the extras.
The visitors hit back two minutes before half-time when Morgan made the most of hard work from Aled Brew, who almost crossed himself, narrowing the gap to 13-8.
The scores were levelled after 65 minutes when full-back Price grabbed the second Dragons try of the night.
Botes might have kicked the hosts ahead soon afterwards but was off target, however it did not prove a costly miss as Brendan Williams, Alessandro Zanni and Ezio Galon combined to create the chance for Burton to score.
