Sub saves points for Edinburgh

Edinburgh Gunners 17 Newport Dragons 15

Francisco Leonelli and super-sub Simon Webster were the Gunners saviours as they left it late to kick-start their Celtic League title quest in a dour affair at Murrayfield.

The pair snapped up their all-important late touchdowns after they had looked destined to pay dearly for firing blanks in attack.

With less than 10 minutes left, Todd Blackadder’s troops were trailing and looked unlikely to pull off a salvage act, but Argentinian speed merchant Leonelli and winger Webster had other ideas – and skipper Chris Paterson’s conversions made sure of the win.

The home brigade – desperate to make amends for their away defeats by Ulster and the Border Reivers – enjoyed the bulk of territory and possession uring the jittery opening exchanges.

But their play was generally scrappy and disjointed as they battled to find an opening in the well-drilled Dragons defence.

Scrum-half Mikey Blair sparked the first real opportunity with a blindside break to release Leonelli.

The exciting new recruit shrugged off two challenges before ducking infield to feed Paterson.

Paterson set off on a searing solo run, only to find himself isolated from support and was blocked a few paces short of the target.

In the ensuing scramble, centre Rob Dewey suffered a leg injury and was substituted by Webster.

Gunners kept up the pressure and opted for a penalty scrum in the danger zone – however the chance evaporated when Hugo Southwell was swamped by markers.

They earned another penalty immediately afterwards, and this time Paterson took the safe option and picked up three easy points.

But the lead was short-lived as Dragons levelled through the boot of Craig Warlow in their first meaningful attack. There were further frustrations for Edinburgh as they squandered a spate of openings.

Twice in quick succession, Leonelli burst away but could not deliver the scoring pass to support runner Webster – then Southwell made a complete hash of his attempt to send Paterson on what would have been a cruise to the try-line.

The action continued to be nervy and lacking in fluency and the Gunners blew yet another opportunity shortly after the restart.

Simon Taylor and Ally Hogg featured in a slick one-two with the former spoiling all the good work by flinging out a speculative pass to nobody after he had galloped into the 22-area.

Dragons seemed content to attack on the break, but they were also left frustrated when Warlow sent a penalty wide of the target.

Eventually, in the 64th minute, the Welshmen managed to put together a high-quality sequence of handling, and unlike their opponents they took full advantage.

Lock Luke Charteris inflicted the initial damage before Gareth Wyatt sent bustling centre Hal Luscombe in at the corner flag.

But then came Leonelli’s spectacular effort which turned the tide in favour of the Gunners. He began and finished the move, which also starred Southwell twice and Paterson, who stepped up to confidently banged over the vital conversion.

Webster darted over for another try in the dying seconds, also goaled by Paterson, but Dragons refused to buckle and Warlow’s last-gasp score and conversion earned them a consolation bonus point.