NEWPORT Gwent Dragons' hideous start to the Guinness Pro12 continued after they were beaten 24-10 by Edinburgh at a soulless Murrayfield.

Both sides headed into the game with a solitary win to their name but it is the Scottish strugglers that go into their European campaign with a spring in their step.

The Dragons looked like they could sneak the spoils when they led 7-6 early in the second half thanks to wing Matthew Pewtner’s try but their mistakes allowed Edinburgh to hit back and enjoy a comfortable conclusion to the game.

It was another disappointing performance by Lyn Jones’ side, who once again failed to fire in attack and put themselves under pressure with a high error count and a shocking kicking game.

Confidence is low, injuries are mounting and next up is a daunting trip to Paris for their European Rugby Challenge Cup opener against Stade Francais.

Not only did the Dragons suffer another defeat and put in another spluttering performance but they are now more stressed in the problem positions of centre and lock.

Dragons also lost Ashley Smith to injury in the 27th minute with the centre looking groggy as he was led to the changing room.

It means that the region have no specialist centres on their books and they ended the game with Wales wings Hallam Amos and Tom Prydie in midfield.

And in the closing stages of the half they lost Rynard Landman after the South African lock took a heavy blow when carrying the ball into contact.

He continued for the final play of the half, even receiving the lineout throw, but was replaced at the resumption by James Thomas.

Injuries added to a poor performance equalled a grim afternoon at a large stadium containing just 3,156 supporters.

It was a scrappy affair between two sides low on confidence, with the error-strewn opening doing little to liven up a sparse crowd at Murrayfield.

There was hardly any action of note until the 20th minute when Edinburgh’s Dutch Scotland winger Tim Visser made an attempt to become a YouTube sensation.

An aimless Dragons punt downfield – something that has plagued their season – was run back by the hosts and centre Sam Beard and flanker Hamish Watson created what should have been a seven-pointer for their speedster.

He showed soft feet to nudge the ball over the whitewash but clumsy hands to drop the ball.

Edinburgh were within inches of the opening score on the half hour when yet another aimless kick, this time by replacement fly-half Angus O’Brien, saw Visser scorch through on the counter.

Watson looked poised to dot down only for openside Nic Cudd to continue his stellar season by getting underneath his opposite number with the help of wing Matthew Pewtner.

The scoreboard operator was finally troubled on 34 minutes when home fly-half Tom Heathcote bisected the posts and it was raining points when he punished a poor Dragons scrum three minutes later.

The first half was tough viewing but Edinburgh were undoubtedly good value for their 6-0 lead against a Dragons side that, once again, had offered precious little in attack.

That changed swiftly after the restart when they finally showed patience with ball in hand to rattle through 10 phases.

Captain Lee Byrne then cut a lovely line to charge into the 22 before lock Andrew Coombs shipped the ball on for wing Matthew Pewtner to finish strongly.

The Dragons led 7-6 but didn’t have their noses in front for long.

First Heathcote punished a high tackle by hooker Elliot Dee and then Visser made no mistake after charging down Hallam Amos, who never looked comfortable on his right peg.

After making a dream start to the half it was suddenly 16-7 and things got even worse when a patient Edinburgh attack ended with wing Dougie Fife going over down the right.

O’Brien chipped away with a penalty on the hour only for Heathcote to swiftly respond to earn a 24-10 lead that Edinburgh held onto.

Edinburgh: G Tonks, D Fife, S Beard, A Strauss, T Visser (J Cuthbert 77), T Heathcote, S Kennedy (S Hidalgo-Clyne 69), A Dickinson, R Ford, J Andress (WP Nel 40), A Bresler, G Gilchrist, M Coman (captain), H Watson, C Du Preez (T Leonardi 26, WP Nel 30-40).

Scorers: tries – Visser, Fife; conversion – T Heathcote; penalties – T Heathcote (4)

Dragons: L Byrne (captain), M Pewtner, T Prydie, A Smith (A O’Brien 26), H Amos, J Tovey (A Brew 56), J Evans (R Rees 64), B Stankovich (L Fairbrother 70), E Dee (R Thomas 56), D Way, A Coombs, R Landman (J Thomas 40), L Evans, N Cudd, A Powell (H Gustafson 30-40).

Scorers: tries – M Pewtner; conversions – J Tovey; penalty – A O’Brien

Referee: Peter Fitzgibbon (Ireland)

Attendance: 3,156