NEWPORT Gwent Dragons will end the season attempting to ensure they avoid the ignominy of Guinness PRO12 bottom spot after their travel sickness continued at Zebre.

The Dragons suffered a 29-14 defeat in sunny Parma, a loss that leaves them just five points ahead of Treviso and with a two-point advantage over their conquerors.

Wales lock Cory Hill and wing Adam Hughes, on his 100th start for the region, scored tries but a quickfire brace by the hosts killed the contest early in the second half.

Zebre had their bonus point in the bag almost half an hour still to play and the Dragons are the first time this season to endure a pointless encounter with the Italians, who started the round at the bottom of the pile.

The Dragons have fixtures remaining against the Scarlets at Principality Stadium and Cardiff Blues in Caerphilly either side of a trip to ninth-placed Edinburgh, who they trail by three points.

But they will need to dramatically improve on their showing at the Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi if they are to finish with a flourish and avoid slipping beneath either Treviso or Zebre… or both of them.

They now haven’t won since beating Enisei-STM in the Challenge Cup on January 16, have failed to improve their tally of four league wins since triumphing against Treviso at the start of the month and haven’t won away from Rodney Parade in any competition this season.

Devoid of any spark without livewire wings Hallam Amos and Ashton Hewitt and marmalised in the set piece, it was a chastening afternoon in Parma for the Dragons.

They have now not won on their travels in the PRO12 since beating Treviso in March, 2015 – a nightmare run of 23 games (25 including Judgement Day fixtures).

A clash with bottom club Zebre represented a golden chance to end that streak but they knew they would have to be at their best to avoid coming a cropper like Connacht, who had been turned over in Parma the previous week.

Unlike the champions, the Dragons weren’t even left to lament ‘if only’ moments. They were comfortably second best.

Zebre struck first with a fifth-minute strike from the tee by Carlo Canna after toil by his forwards, who won a scrum penalty then forced another offence from a driving lineout.

But the Dragons responded perfectly after the hosts made a mess of the restart to gift them a lineout on the 22.

The visitors worked their way close to the line with a patient attack before Hill, on his first outing since mid-February because of the Six Nations, went over from close range after riding the initial hit.

Fly-half Angus O'Brien converted for a 7-3 lead but it didn't last long with the Italians striking thanks to a powerful scrum that shoved the Dragons backwards five metres from their own line.

Flanker Ollie Griffiths, packing down at 8, couldn't gather cleanly and number eight Federico Ruzza pounced on the loose ball.

Conditions were perfect but Canna couldn't add the conversion and then O'Brien pushed a very kickable penalty with 19 minutes gone.

The game was too loose and manic for the Dragons' liking and they were made to pay when Zebre scored their second try on the half hour.

Hughes was rather harshly adjudged by Irish referee Frank Murphy to have pushed a blocker when chasing an up and under.

That allowed the Italians to go on the charge in the 22 and, after they worked towards the line, a chip over the top by scrum-half Marcello Violi was gathered by flanker Derick Minnie for a frustratingly simple score.

Canna converted for 15-7 and the Dragons desperately needed to score next.

However, they were having all manner of problems at the scrum with Mr Murphy spotting another offence that allowed Zebre to attempt a five-metre lineout as the half-time whistle approached.

Thankfully the visitors held firm and it was a sign of their set piece struggles that props Sam Hobbs and Lloyd Fairbrother were called from the bench for the final scrum of the half on their own line.

They held firm and the Dragons escaped with the half-time damage at 15-7. It took just five minutes of the second half for the Dragons to cut the deficit to one point.

The key was to show patience in attack to earn the openings against the Zebre defence and the visitors managed that for centre Sam Beard to scythe through from 40 metres before offloading for wing Hughes to go over down the right.

O'Brien added an excellent conversion but from being right back in it on 45 minutes, the Dragons were staring at another humbling with 53 gone after shipping a quickfire brace.

First Italy full-back Eduardo Padovani raced over for a super counter-attack try from turnover ball and then flanker Johan Meyer finished powerfully, aided by some weak tackling, from stolen lineout ball.

Carlo Canna converted both and Zebre not only had their bonus point in the bag but a commanding 29-14 lead.

With four tries already chalked up, the hosts just had to win to make it a five-point haul and turned to the boot of their fly-half to attempt to stretch further clear only for him to miss a simple effort just past the hour.

Nonetheless, the Italians were comfortable and not even Serafin Bordoli’s sin-binning for a dangerous tackle with 12 minutes remaining would prevent them easing to back-to-back league victories.

Zebre: E Padovani, K Van Zyl, G Bisegni, T Boni, L Greeff (T Castello 58); C Canna (S Bordoli 64), M Violi; A Lovotti (B Postiglioni 58), T D’Apice (O Fabiani 46), D Chistolini (P Ceccarelli 46), G Koegelenberg (J Furno 64), G Biagi (captain), J Meyer (M Mbanda 54), D Minnie, F Ruzza.

Scorers: tries – F Ruzza, D Minnie, E Padovani, J Meyer; conversions – C Canna (3); penalty – C Canna

Yellow card: S Bordoli

Dragons: C Meyer, A Hughes, T Morgan (A Warren 77), S Beard, P Howard (T Prydie 66); A O’Brien (D Jones 61), C Davies; P Price (S Hobbs 38), R Buckley (D Harris 77), B Harris (L Fairbrother 38), C Hill, R Landman, N Crosswell, O Griffiths (N Cudd 45), L Evans (captain).

Scorers: tries – C Hill, A Hughes; conversions – A O'Brien

Referee: Frank Murphy (Ireland)