GOOD things come to those who wait and Newport Gwent Dragons tasted Guinness Pro12 victory for the first time since January after beating Zebre 11-6 at Rodney Parade.

Alas, it was undeniably a victory that called for a celebration with a pint of stout rather than sparkling stuff as the Italians headed home with a losing bonus point for their determined efforts in a low-quality encounter.

It certainly wasn’t the most satisfactory of successes but at least it was one to end the Dragons’ 11-game losing streak that went back to their January win against Leinster.

They went throughout the whole of last season without a bonus-point victory and a five-point haul remains elusive with their sole score coming through wing Pat Howard after 19 minutes.

Rather than toasting a rip-roaring success the home side will be trotting out the old adage ‘a win’s a win’ but they know that better is needed if they are to avoid another bottom-three tussle with the Italian teams.

The Dragons have pledged to play a more expansive game this season and they certainly showed intent with ball in hand.

However, at times they were a little too lateral and they endured similar problems to 2015/16 in that mistakes in enemy territory let their opposition off the hook.

Zebre didn’t have to overcommit to the breakdown, safe in the knowledge that they could wait for a Dragons error.

There were too many attempts for Hollywood passes and it was only when the likes of Ed Jackson and Rynard Landman carried hard that they looked like cracking their visitors.

In the end they were left grateful for the final whistle and they were a tad fortunate that decisions to go for the corner rather than the posts didn’t come back to bite them in the backside.

The Dragons headed to Belfast on opening weekend with nothing to lose but the encounter with Zebre had to be a victory. No ifs, no buts.

That being said, there was no chance of their visitors from Parma being as abject as they had been seven days earlier against the Ospreys.

And the Italians made an assured start and were good value for their 3-0 lead courtesy of a 10th-minute penalty by fly-half Carlo Canna.

The frustration was growing for the Dragons with chances coming and going – scrum-half Sarel Pretorius making too many errors inside enemy territory and Wales international Hallam Amos throwing a shocker of a pass that was picked off five metres out.

Thankfully the settler came in the 19th minute, although the execution of a three-on-one overlap still left something to be desired.

An initial burst by lock Rynard Landman, who was prominent in the opening exchanges, was followed by wing Pat Howard scoring his second try in two games for his new club, although Amos left him with plenty of work to do down the left.

Hopes that the floodgates were dashed by a resilient Zebre side, who may not have offered the most dashing of attacking threats but had the edge in the tight and were defending with much more tenacity than they had at the Liberty Stadium.

The Dragons had to show attacking intent yet also patience and stretched to 11-3 approaching half-time thanks to a brace of penalties by fly-half Nick Macleod.

The hosts were showing enterprise and intent to play expansive rugby yet were still hindered by infuriating errors at key moments.

And one such mistake enabled Canna to knock over a second penalty in the 39th-minute of a half that had promised much but delivered little.

It was Zebre who started the second half the stronger and a lost Dragons lineout was followed by a breakdown offence that should have resulted in a third Canna penalty only for the Italy international to push a simple effort.

The score remained 11-6 heading into the final quarter with yet more visits to enemy territory ending without the Dragons troubling the scoreboard operator.

In fact, it took some desperate defence to retain the lead in the 65th minute after former New Zealand 7s captain Kurt Baker burst into the 22.

It was shocking fair but the Dragons had the chance to put the game to bed in the 69th minute when, with Dragons tighthead Brok Harris and Zebre loosehead Guillermo Roan in the sin bin for scrummaging nonsense, visiting prop Andrea de Marchi was also sent to the naughty step.

Rather than just secure the win, the Dragons went for the corner only to knock-on from the resulting attack, summing up their evening.

They repeated the trick in the 73th minute, turning down three only to make a Horlicks of the lineout.

Zebre enjoyed some excursions into the Dragons half as the clock ticked down but were pretty content with a losing bonus point. There certainly weren’t many smiles on the faces of home supporters as they headed home in the drizzle.

Dragons: H Amos, A Warren, T Morgan, S Beard, P Howard, N Macleod, S Pretorius (C Davies 59), T Davies (S Hobbs 47), R Thomas (R Buckley 62), B Harris (L Fairbrother 73), R Landman (M Screech 65), N Crosswell (J Thomas 69), L Evans (captain), N Cudd (L Fairbrother 61-73), E Jackson.

Scorers: try – P Howard; penalties – N Macleod (2)

Yellow card: B Harris

Zebre: K Baker (E Padovani 65), L Greeff, G Bisegni, T Boni, G Di Giulio, C Canna, G Palazzani (C Engelbrecht 65), A De Marchi (G Roan 51), O Fabiani (C Festuccia 61), P Ceccarelli (D Chistolini 61), Q Geldenhuys, G Biagi (captain, G Koegelenberg 68), J Sarto, M Mbanda (A de Marchi 61-73), A Van Schalkwyk (F Ruzza 30).

Scorers: penalties – C Canna (2)

Yellow card: G Roan, A de Marchi

Referee: Lloyd Linton (Scotland)

Attendance: 4,454

Argus star man: Ed Jackson