THE Newport Gwent Dragons management declared that there would be "no excuses" for not pushing on this season yet unfortunately they are coming thick and fast.

A host of injuries, the need to fling in teenagers, a new team getting to know each other, lack of a TMO in Galway, the delay to the regions' agreement with the Welsh Rugby Union.

In isolation they may seem valid but there will be no legitimate excuses if the Dragons fail to record their first Guinness Pro12 win against Treviso in Newport on Sunday.

The region has made a poor start to the campaign, not just in terms of results but from a performance point of view.

They certainly won't be the only side to be thumped by Glasgow this season – the 2013/14 runners-up look determined to go one better this time – but it was the manner of the 33-13 defeat that was so disappointing.

There was no sign of the snarl that the region displayed against Northampton in pre-season, the error count is sky-high and invention is at a premium while confidence has drained from the side and it seems eerily quiet out in the middle.

At 13-3 down on Saturday they were gifted a lifeline when Warriors flanker Tyrone Holmes was controversially red-carded. But instead of a stirring home fightback the Glaswegians simply showed their class by romping to a bonus-point win.

The bookies only priced the visitors at -7 in the handicap before kick-off, generous odds given the Dragons' makeshift line-up against confident title contenders and spluttering displays against Connacht and the Ospreys.

The players aren't quite firing and the management must take their share of the blame for being down to the bare bones in the backs.

They were always a Jason Tovey injury away from a huge problem once Kris Burton, whose face never fitted, was allowed to head for the exit.

And they went into pre-season with two fit centres – Jack Dixon and Pat Leach – who are now sidelined while Ross Wardle and Ashley Smith suffered long-term injuries last season.

It's hoped that Smith may be fight to slot in next to on-loan Osprey Ben John against Treviso but if he fails to recover from a tight hamstring then frankly the best option may be to put Taulupe Faletau at inside centre.

It just seemed cruel to fling 20-year-old novice Angus O'Brien and 21-year-old fly-half Dorian Jones in at 10 and 12. It's a fine line between learning from hard experiences and being set back by them.

But to the credit of the young pair they didn't completely go to pieces after a nightmare start that saw Glasgow centre Alex Dunbar exploit their defensive weakness to glide through midfield untouched and dot down under the sticks before five minutes had passed.

The Warriors led 13-3 at the break courtesy of penalties by Duncan Weir and Stuart Hogg to one by Angus O'Brien and it could have been worse; it took a last-ditch, and slightly late, Faletau tackle to deny Niko Matawalu.

A yellow could have been shown to the the Wales and Lions number eight but Lloyd Fairbrother's tough afternoon saw him sin-binned from the last scrum of the half.

The Dragons were outnumbered for just 30 seconds as Holmes was dismissed for using his boot to stop Rhys Thomas holding on to his jersey at a ruck, a reckless act that probably deserved yellow.

That gave the hosts some hope but they failed to build any sustained pressure, hindered by an inability to hold on to the ball.

They closed to within 13-6 but didn't make Glasgow sweat and the Warriors were in control at 23-6 approaching the hour thanks to another Weir penalty and a demoralising Josh Strauss try in which they shifted the meek Dragons back yard by yard through 15 phases before the inevitable score.

Scrum-half Richie Rees – who must despair at the situation outside him – gave some hope when he capped a lively display with a sniping try and there was some hope of at least a bonus point with the score at 23-13 entering the final quarter.

However, it was 14-man Glasgow that bossed matters with Tommy Seymour outpacing Aled Brew down the right touchline and lock Tim Swinson benefiting from some blocking at a driven lineout to bag the visitors a five-point haul.

The Dragons have taken just 13 league points from a possible 70 in 2014. They desperately need to get at least four on Sunday to calm the nerves ahead of a trio of away games.

Dragons: H Amos, T Prydie, B John, D Jones (B Nightingale 66), A Brew (A Hewitt 71), A O'Brien, R Rees (L Jones 71), B Stankovich, R Thomas (E Dee 55), L Fairbrother (D Way 50-69), C Hill (M Screech 63, H Gustafson 66), R Landman, L Evans (D Way 44-50, A Powell 63), N Cudd, T Faletau.

Scorers: try – R Rees; conversion – A O'Brien; penalties – A O'Brien (2)

Yellow card: L Fairbrother

Glasgow: S Hogg, T Seymour (L Jones 79), A Dunbar, P Horne, DTH van der Merwe, D Weir, N Matawalu (H Pyrgos 36), G Reid (A Allan 63), K Bryce (F Brown 49), E Murray (De Klerk 58, T Swinson, L Nakarawa, R Harley (J Eddie 55), T Holmes, J Strauss (captain, A Ashe 64).

Scorers: tries – A Dunbar, J Strauss, T Seymour, T Swinson; conversions – D Weir (2); penalties – D Weir (2), S Hogg

Red card: T Holmes

Referee: David Wilkinson (Ireland)

Attendance: 5, 885