Pro 12: Edinburgh 24-10 NG Dragons

Edinburgh dominated possession for long spells at Murrayfield

Wingers Tim Visser and Dougie Fife scored second-half tries at Murrayfield as Edinburgh secured a second win of the Pro12 season.

Tom Heathcote thumped over two penalties late in the first half to put the home side in front.

Newport Gwent Dragons were disappointing but moved ahead briefly following a try from Matthew Pewtner.

A charge-down score from Visser and Fife's dive into the corner then made sure of victory for the hosts.

Edinburgh leapfrog the Dragons in the table and were good value for their fourth consecutive victory over the side from south-east Wales.

The visitors deployed a narrow defence and Edinburgh's passing game was initially too deliberate to release Visser and Fife often enough.

Visser did have a golden chance to open the scoring when Sam Beard's bobbling kick was nudged on cleverly by the boot of Hamish Watson for the Scotland international to tap into the try zone, but the ball cannoned off his knee as he tried to touch down.

Jason Tovey then skewed a long-range penalty wide on a rare venture into the opposition half for the visitors.

Following a lengthy delay for an injury to Edinburgh number eight Cornell Du Preez, Visser left a trail of opponents in his wake to feed Watson but the busy flanker was clipped short of the line and a combination of Nic Cudd and Pewtner stopped him slithering over.

The scrum was a mess all day and referee Dudley Phillips ran out of patience with John Andress and Boris Stankovich, temporarily reducing both sides to 14 men.

The deadlock was finally broken on 34 minutes with Heathcote knocking over a penalty for not releasing and a scrum infringement soon after allowed the fly-half to double the lead.

The Dragons profited from two missed tackles through the middle to score a try early in the second half, Pewtner diving under the posts and Tovey converting.

But their lead did not last long as Heathcote slotted another penalty after a high tackle from Elliott Dee on scrum-half Sean Kennedy.

Fife scored Edinburgh's second try after 55 minutes at Murrayfield

And the visitors shot themselves in the foot when a poor clearing kick from Hallam Amos was charged down by Visser and a kind bounce set up a simple score under the posts, with Heathcote adding the extras.

Angus O'Brien knocked a difficult, angled penalty just off target for the Welsh side before they fell further behind.

Edinburgh's forwards were camped on the try-line with the Dragons defending desperately and Beard stepped in for a fruitful change of approach, spinning a long pass for Fife to plunge in at the corner.

Heathcote could not convert from out wide but later traded penalties with O'Brien either side of the hour to maintain the home side's healthy lead.

The game deteriorated in the closing stages, with the Welsh region too predictable to threaten any kind of comeback.

The final minutes saw a great break from Heathcote to release Beard but the home centre was swallowed up by blue shirts 10 yards short. Mike Coman followed up to touch the ball against a post but the television match official spotted an offside team-mate.

Dragons director of rugby Lyn Jones: "We knew it was going to be difficult for us with everything that's going on with us at the moment, and it really didn't help matters when we lost two of our best players before the half.

"But having said that, what we're trying to do here is to learn to execute our skills under a little bit of pressure.

"Edinburgh are not a great side but they were better than us and deserved to win.

"We're probably at the bottom of our game, we're in a hole at the moment and we need to find our way out. It's only going to come with hard work."

TEAMS

Edinburgh: G Tonks, D Fife, S Beard, A Strauss, T Visser, T Heathcote, S Kennedy, A Dickinson, R Ford, J Andress, A Bresler, G Gilchrist, M Coman (capt), H Watson, C Du Preez.

Replacements: J Hilterbrand, A Dell, W Nel, O Atkins, T Leonardi, S Hidalgo-Clyne, P Burleigh, J Cuthbert.

Dragons: L Byrne (capt), M Pewtner, T Prydie, A Smith, H Amos, J Tovey, J Evans, B Stankovich, E Dee, D Way, A Coombs, R Landman, L Evans, N Cudd, A Powell.

Replacements: T. Rhys Thomas, H Gustafson, L Fairbrother, I Gough, J Thomas, R Rees, A O'Brien, A Brew.