THERE'S no place quite like home for Newport Gwent Dragons, who got the job done against Leinster thanks to a hearty defensive display on a foul night at Rodney Parade.

The Dragons responded to their European nightmare at Sale by taking the spoils 23-13 against Guinness Pro12 title hopefuls Leinster thanks to tries by wing Ashton Hewitt and Jason Tovey plus oodles of tenacity without the ball.

A spirited performance against a youthful Irish side – and boy were the kids alright for the Dubliners – secured a much-needed victory that lifts them back above Zebre into 10th in the table.

The Dragons continued their fine record on Newport soil this season with their seventh win out of nine games, and the two defeats to Ulster and Cardiff Blues were ones that got away.

They produced a super display in testing conditions with the forwards carrying hard and working their socks off while fly-half Jason Tovey had one of his stellar nights and wing Ashton Hewitt to continues to dazzle, outshining Wales hopeful Hallam Amos.

The lengthy Leinster absentee list provided the perennial debate about whether the Pro12 should be played in Test periods but that was of no concern to the Dragons; they just had to beat what was in front of them.

In fact, the number of players who were watching the TG4 footage back in Dublin while preparing for the Six Nations opener with Wales rather than being out on the heavy Rodney Parade surface heaped more pressure on the hosts.

After slumping to a heavy defeat at Sale, the atmosphere would be toxic if they failed to respond against a weakened Leinster.

As such Lyn Jones opted for his most experienced pack, albeit they were forced into a late reshuffle when Lewis Evans withdrew in the warm-up with lock Cory Hill having the slot in at number eight so stretched are they in the back row.

Behind there were seasoned campaigners in the shape of Sarel Pretorius, Jason Tovey, Adam Warren and Adam Hughes while Amos had the chance to give Warren Gatland a nudge for Ireland by performing strongly out wide.

Leinster may have gone into the game in second place, one point behind the Scarlets, but it simply had to be a win for the Dragons, who started the game with only Treviso beneath them in the table.

And they made the perfect start in shocking weather with the forwards and backs doing their job to earn a 7-0 lead after four minutes.

A penalty was kicked into the 22 and the pack produced a nice driving lineout before they hammered away at the line, with scrum-half Pretorius sniping. They got to within inches and then the ball was spread right for in-form wing Ashton Hewitt to finish nicely from the pass of fly-half Tovey, who then added the extras.

However, youthful Leinster struck back excellently with wing Fergus McFadden kicking a penalty and then converting a fine solo try by scrum-half Luke McGrath in the 14th minute after the Dragons turned the ball over inside their 22, the skipper spying South African forwards Rynard Landman and Brok Harris in the defensive line.

The hosts needed a spark, which was nearly provided in the 20th minute only for the TMO to chalk off a second for Hewitt from Tovey's neat cross-kick after a knock-on by Pretorius in the build-up.

The TMO, Welshman Tim Hayes, was in action again just two minutes later when McGrath made the schoolboy error of allowing a Tovey bomb to bounce but he just scrambled to dot down ahead of centre Warren.

The Dragons had a long bout of pressure which led to a yellow card for Leinster flanker Dan Leavy after a string of offences but the score stayed at 10-7 to the visitors as the horrid conditions got even worse.

But the hosts got the score their efforts deserved after 34 minutes when a super break by Hewitt and then charge by Nick Crosswell got to within yards of the line then the ball was worked right by props Boris Stankovich and Harris for Landman to put his fly-half over.

Tovey, having one of his excellent nights, converted superbly and then showed good thinking to slot a drop goal for 17-10 lead at the break.

Leinster called for reinforcements at half-time with Ireland internationals Ian Madigan and Richardt Strauss called from the bench at fly-half and hooker.

McFadden rewarded a bright start to make it 17-13 and, like against Castres a fortnight earlier, the Dragons were on the back foot.

It was energy-sapping stuff with Madigan pulling the strings and the visitors' big players standing tall – back rowers Dominic Ryan and Jordi Murphy, hooker Strauss and centre Ben Te'o.

Yet the Dragons clung on in their despite incredible pressure on their line and their first bout of possession earned a penalty that Tovey banged over for 20-13.

Leinster had to play out the rest of the game with 14 men when McFadden was yellow-carded for a dangerous clear out on Pretorius after 71 minutes and somewhat harshly the visitors were denied a bonus point at the death when Tovey ruthlessly punished a scrum offence, his penalty earning another personal clean sweep.

Dragons: C Meyer, A Hewitt, A Hughes, A Warren, H Amos, J Tovey, S Pretorius (C Davies 71), B Stankovich (P Price 46), R Thomas (captain, E Dee 16), B Harris (S Knight 66), R Landman, M Screech, N Crosswell (J Benjamin 57), N Cudd, C Hill (S Andrews 76).

Scorers: tries – A Hewitt, J Tovey; conversions – J Tovey (2); penalty - Tovey; drop goal – J Tovey

Leinster: Z Kirchner, A Byrne (N Reid 70), G Ringrose, B Te'o, F McFadden, C Marsh (I Madigan 40), L McGrath (captain, I Boss 64), P Dooley (J Loughman 64), J Tracy (R Strauss 40), M Bent, R Molony, H Triggs (T Beirne 64), D Ryan, D Leavy (P Timmins 70), J Murphy.

Scorers: try – L McGrath; conversion – F McFadden; penalties – F McFadden (2)

Yellow cards: D Leavy, F McFadden

Referee: Marius Mitrea (Italy)

Attendance: 4,303

Argus star man: Nic Cudd

- The Dragons have been given a Saturday date for their European Rugby Challenge Cup quarter-final against Gloucester. They will make the short trip to Kingsholm on April 9 (kick-off 12.45pm) with the last-eight tie televised on Sky Sports.