THEY made hard work of it but Newport Gwent Dragons will head into their festive derbies with Cardiff Blues on a winning streak after a success against fellow Guinness Pro12 strugglers Zebre.

The region ran out three tries to one victors in a drab encounter at Rodney Parade to set up their Boxing Day encounter in the capital and New Year's Day showdown in Newport.

After December wins against Bucharest the Dragons got the job done against yet more limited opposition, although they should be kicking themselves about failing to get a bonus point.

It was just their second league win of the season and they leapfrogged Zebre into 10th place in the table but it was nothing more than a satisfactory success and a par performance.

And victory came at a cost with Wales and Lions number eight Taulupe Faletau, who had started in lively fashion, forced off after 20 minutes following a blow to his left ankle.

Director of rugby Lyn Jones bizarrely said in midweek that Faletau needs to "become a good team player for us" yet the Dragons are a different proposition with him at the base of the scrum and in the back field.

And the region will need to up their game if they are to triumph against Cardiff Blues, who showed signs of life on Friday when beating the Scarlets in the capital with their pack putting in a strong performance and new recruits Gareth Anscombe, Joaqin Tuculet and Lucas Ambrosino giving them more shape behind.

The Dragons needed to do follow suit by impressing against a Zebre side that started the game above their hosts in the Pro12 table.

In truth they didn't produce a performance to give Sam Warburton & Co the jitters but they got the job done, largely thanks to a clinical period in the second half when they enjoyed a two-man advantage.

It was pretty uninspiring fare, almost enough to make the festive scrum of gluttonous punters at Tesco seem attractive. The two teams are likely to end up in the bottom third of the Pro12 and it showed.

Zebre were like a professional Bucharest Wolves, attempting to put the squeeze on at the set piece and just running hard and straight.

The Dragons had to make plenty of tackles against their direct, heavy-set visitors and looked much more threatening with the ball that did come their way, only to be hindered by errors in the Italians' 22.

That's how it started with two early breaks into the 'red zone' going unrewarded, Faletau's searing break earning a penalty that full-back Tom Prydie missed and scrum-half Jonathan Evans needlessly wasting possession with a grubber kick after a sharp run.

Prydie made no mistake in the sixth minute but the visitors worked their way into the game with their simple but effective game plan.

The Dragons, who were playing into the breeze in the first half, were looking more cunning but could not get a foothold in the game.

And Zebre were deservedly back on level terms after a quarter when Italy fly-half Kelly Haimona, who had earlier missed a shot at goal, bisected the posts when lock Andrew Coombs failed to use his arms with a chop tackle.

It was pretty turgid fare with the visitors attempting to build a lead through their strong scrum and impressive driving lineout.

Yet it was the Dragons who got the upper hand thanks to a smart counter-attack sparked by the lively Jonathan Evans.

The scrum-half fielded a clearance kick on halfway and made a break before offloading for Prydie to go charging into the 22. His pass to Ross Wardle was a poor one but the centre cut back inside from the right touchline and slid over for an excellent finish.

Prydie's converted and then missed another penalty after Haimona had made it 10-6 on the half hour.

However, the full-back made no mistake with the final play of the half with Zebre being hit by a yellow card to openside Mauro Bergamasco for not rolling away as well as the three points.

The Dragons headed into the second half needing to make the advantage count and that was even more the case when wing Leonardo Sarto joined his fellow Italy international in the sin bin following a dangerous tackle on tighthead Brok Harris.

The punishment was almost immediate with blindside James Thomas prominent as the hosts hammered at the line before the overlap was worked for Tovey to put wing Hallam Amos over down the left.

And it was a double-whammy when, following Tovey's sublime touch-finder, the Dragons stole a lineout inside the visitors' 22. Several phases later the fly-half exposed 13-man Zebre down the right to give captain Rynard Landman a simple run-in and his first regional try.

Prydie converted for 25-6 but just as thoughts were turning to bonus points Zebre struck with a well-worked try, hooker Andrea Manici peeling off the back of a driving lineout.

Wing Matthew Pewtner wasted a chance to settle the nerves when he failed to make the most of support on either shoulder following a super break into the 22.

It was another blown chance, leaving the Dragons to settle for four points when it should really have been five.

Dragons: T Prydie, M Pewtner (D Jones 77), R Wardle (T Morgan 75), J Dixon, H Amos, J Tovey, J Evans (R Rees 61), P Price (O Evans 74), R Thomas (E Dee 58), B Harris (L Fairbrother 74), A Coombs (C Hill 61), R Landman (captain), J Thomas, N Cudd, T Faletau (L Evans 22).

Scorers: tries – R Wardle, H Amos, R Landman; conversions – T Prydie (2); penalties – T Prydie (2)

Zebre: H Daniller, G Venditti (G Toniolatti 71), G Bisegni (G Palazzani 47), M Pratichetti, L Sarto, K Haimona, B Leonard; A Lovotti (A de Marchi 69), A Manici (O Fabiani 69), D Chistolini (L Leibson 53), Q Geldenhuys, M Bortolami (captain, G Biagi 53), F Cristiano, M Bergamasco (J Sarto 56), A Van Schalkwyk.

Scorers: try – A Manici; penalties – K Haimona

Yellow card: M Bergamasco, L Sarto

Referee: Gary Conway (Ireland)

Attendance: 5,823

Argus star man: Jason Tovey