Aironi burned by Dragons
Dragons secured a valuable victory over fellow Magners League strugglers Aironi after thrashing the Italian side 36-5.
Last Updated: 23/10/10 9:39pm
Dragons secured a valuable victory over fellow Magners League strugglers Aironi after thrashing the Italian side 36-5 at Rodney Parade.
Jason Tovey pulled the strings for the Welsh region in only their second win of the season, ending a five-match losing sequence in a bad tempered clash.
It lifted the Dragons above Glasgow in the table, while the luckless Italians remain rooted to the bottom without a win in eight attempts.
The home side's hero was fly-half Tovey, who kicked them to victory with a 19-point haul in front of watching Wales coach Warren Gatland.
Tovey's five penalties and two conversions came in his first appearance for more than a month as he made a return from a torn hamstring.
The Dragons relied heavily on the boot of Tovey from the start as he kicked three penalties in the opening 20 minutes - the third after Italian prop Redolfini was yellow-carded for preventing release.
Try
That was quickly followed by a brilliant try started and finished by Wales candidate Aled Brew, with Tovey acting as the middle man.
Brew chipped ahead, Tovey neatly kept the ball in play and dashed infield, where Brew took his pass and swept over for a try which Tovey converted.
His fourth penalty after 30 minutes put the Dragons well ahead, but Aironi replied on the stroke of half-time with a try in the corner by winger Giovanbattista Venditti after a series of drives by their big pack.
The Dragons led 19-5 at the interval and Tovey was soon on the mark again, landing another penalty - although the Dragons were down to 14 men when hooker Steve Jones was yellow-carded for coming in from the side.
The Italians had two more players yellow carded for persistent infringement, both of them replacements - fly-half Riccardo Bocchino and hooker Roberto Santamaria, whose departure was a seconds yellow, which turned to a red and saw them reduced to 13 men.
The Dragons wrapped it up with six minutes left when Brew's fellow wing Adam Hughes romped clear for a try which Tovey converted.
Deep into injury time, Hughes grabbed his second try after chasing a fly-kick and replacement Matthew Jones converted - although the Dragons did miss out on a bonus point.
