NEWPORT Gwent Dragons secured a home European Rugby Challenge Cup quarter-final by beating Stade Francais 30-19 thanks to their impressive attacking driving lineout at Rodney Parade.

The Dragons headed into the clash with Pool Three top spot secure but work to do to earn a home tie in the last eight.

But they got the job done in the first half to earn a 22-7 lead thanks to the kicking of wing Tom Prydie, whose right leg clearly didn’t seize up in the M4 traffic jam that meant he arrived less than an hour before kick-off.

Last weekend’s win in Newcastle was earned by some dazzling running out wide but today’s success was earned by the grunt up front with a strong display at the scrum and lineout, with the latter providing tries for hookers Elliot Dee and Rhys Thomas.

In truth it wasn’t the most fluid of displays by the Dragons and they lacked composure to put away the visitors but they were good value for a win that sets up a clash with Cardiff Blues.

A home quarter is pleasing and so is the fact that Lyn Jones' charges finally backed up a terrific win when previously they followed notable successes against Stade and Cardiff Blues with a disappointing losses to Newcastle and their rivals from the capital.

Nor were Stade mugs, even if they left the likes of Sergio Parisse and Pascal Pape out of their European squad because of their Top 14 title challenge; their sizeable budget meant they still fielded a number of big earners at Rodney Parade.

They boasted Samoa full-back Paul Williams, Australia wing Digby Ioane, South Africa fly-half Morne Steyn, France scrum-half Julien Dupuy and Georgian Heineken Cup-winning tighthead Davit Kubriashvili in their ranks.

The Dragons made a perfect start with wing Tom Prydie booming over a second minute penalty before a disastrous misjudgement by Stade number eight Nicolas Garrault from a Geraint Rhys Jones penalty to touch allowed Elliot Dee to power over from a driving lineout.

Prydie added the extras and then another sweetly-struck penalty for a 13-0 lead with 14 minutes gone, a score that would test the French side’s attitude given their incredibly slim hopes of qualifying as a runner-up.

The Dragons were looking lively with ball in hand with the young trio of Dee, centre Tyler Morgan and wing Hallam Amos all catching the eye.

Yet they weren’t getting carried away in a quest for tries – they knew that the job was to get the win first and Prydie banged over a simple penalty inside the 22 just past the quarter.

It proved to be a shrewd decision on the half hour when Stade were rewarded for kicking a penalty to the corner rather than opting for three points by former New Zealand rugby league international Krisnan Inu’s powerful finish.

Steyn added the extras only for Prydie, seconds after missing his simplest effort from the tee, rewarded a super scrum from the pack with a penalty to make it 19-7.

There was a bit more of a debate about what to do with a penalty won by an impressive driving lineout on the stroke of half-time but captain Rynard Landman – with a bit of help from waterboy and conditioning coach Ryan Harris – pointed to the posts rather than the corner and Prydie made it 22-7.

Once again it proved to be a wise decision when the visitors came sharply out of the blocks in the second half with their efforts rewarded by hooker Zurab Zhvania’s score from a driving lineout to make it 22-12.

Suddenly the Parisians were looking dangerous yet some fierce Dragons defence kept their line intact and it was nearly game over when a searing break down the right by Prydie and Morgan ended with loosehead Phil Price, who has shown great speed to keep up, just failed to hold a tough pass with the line at his mercy.

But the Dragons used the same method as the first half to secure the spoils on the hour when Rhys Thomas, on after Dee has suffered a blow to the shoulder, guided the pack over the line from five metres out.

However, Stade replied with a carbon copy of that score with hooker Remi Bonfils’ effort followed by Steyn’s conversion to make it 27-19 in the 70th minute.

That was as close as they got and the Dragons had the last word when full-back Geraint Rhys Jones boomed over a penalty at the death.

Dragons scorers: tries – E Dee, R Thomas; conversion – T Prydie; penalties – T Prydie (5), G R Jones

Stade Francais scorers: tries – K Inu, Z Zhvania, R Bonfils; conversions – M Steyn (3)