EDINBURGH head coach Richard Cockerill argued his side were not at their best, but was pleased to get victory over the Dragons on Friday night.
Having lost in Treviso to Benetton the week before, the main focus for Edinburgh at BT Murrayfield was a positive result.
And while it was not pretty at times, they were comfortably the better side.
“We deserved to win, you can't be too sad when you win, but we need to be better”, Cockerill said.
“Credit to the Dragons, they played well and made it hard for us. We struggled to break them down. We'll have better days, we were a little bit flat.”
Edinburgh have now won four and lost two in the league this season while the Dragons have the opposite record.
Their director of rugby Dean Ryan is not downhearted though, saying: “This is a young side and it is coming from a long way back, but it's making strides. I love working with them and we have some talented boys in our group.
“It's about small steps, I am incredibly proud of the effort.
“We are trying hard to concentrate on where we can get better, but at the same time we've got to recognise we are a little bit behind in the competition against some sides.”
Dragons started well, but it was Edinburgh who took the lead when returning Scotland fullback Blair Kinghorn ran a good line to dot down after 15 minutes. Standoff Simon Hickey converted.
The hosts extended their lead just before half-time when Hickey notched a penalty seven minutes into the second half the Dragons were given a lifeline when second-row Ben Toolis was sent to the sin bin for impeding the kick-andchase from Dragons full-back Jordan Williams.
TEAMS
EDINBURGH RUGBY: Kinghorn 7; Sau 7, Bennett 7 (Taylor 64, 5), Scott 9, van der Merwe 7; Hickey 7, Pyrgos (C) 7 (Shiel 73, 5); Schoeman 8 (Sutherland 78, 5), Willemse 7 (Fenton 73, 5), Ceccarelli 6 (Berghan 53 6), Carmichael 6 (Gilchrist 58, 6), Toolis 7, Barclay 6 (Ritchie 58, 6), Crosbie 8, Bradbury 7.
Not used: van der Walt.
DRAGONS: J Williams 6; Jenkins 6, Warren 7, Dixon 6 (Morgan 70, 5), Hewitt 6; S Davies 6, R Williams (C) 6 (Baldwin 75, 5); Harris 7 (Reynolds 79, 5), Hibbard 7, Brown (Fairbrother 63, 5), J Davies 6 (M Williams 70, 5), Screech 7, Taylor 6, Basham 7 (Benjamin 66, 5), Keddie 7.
Not used: Shipp, Robson.
REFEREE: George Clancy
ATTENDANCE: 5,762
Star man
Matt Scott – Edinburgh
The Welsh side could not take advantage, though, and when their back-row Huw Taylor was yellow carded for repeat offences, Hickey put Edinburgh 13-0 up.
The Dragons hit back through a try by centre Adam Warren, on his 100th appearance for the club, which was converted by stand-off Sam Davies.
That was in the 57th minute, but six minutes later Edinburgh were back in control when winger Duhan van der Merwe scored their second try.
Hickey converted for 20-7 and that was the way it stayed.
