Mogliano offered next to nothing in attack and fell off tackles while the Dragons will be disappointed they didn’t kick on from a sterling first half where they were clearly the better side but the second half deteriorated into a scrappy affair.
The win leaves the Dragons in second place on points difference – Wasps lead the way (16 points) with Bayonne (11) and the Dragons level but the Welsh side has a superior points difference while the Italians languish at the bottom of the table.
The home side were the first to get on the score sheet in the seventh minute after good work by the forwards near halfway put the Dragons on the front foot.
Daniel Evans took the ball at pace from captain Lewis Evans on the halfway line before jinking his way with ease past several despairing would-be tacklers to score under the posts. His comfortable conversion gave the home side an early 7-0 lead.
As the rain began to pelt down, Mogliano had a chance to reduce the arrears which scrum half Enrico Endrizzi achieved by just squeezing a penalty kick inside the uprights.
Flanker Marco Barbini was caught coming in from the side and Evans extended the lead with his left peg to ram over a short range penalty to give the Dragons a 10-3 lead.
Left wing Mike Poole then scored a fine individual try in the 20th minute. He picked up the loose ball inside his own half before rounding a flagging defence. He then chipped over Edoardo Padovani and won the race to ball to score the Dragons’ second try of the match to put the home side 15-3 in front.
The Dragons pack made mincemeat of the Mogliano scrum in the 30th minute to give referee David Wilkinson no option but to award a penalty try as the Italians were retreating at a rate of knots. With Evans’ conversion the Dragons were coasting at 22-3.
Andrew Coombs then charged down scrum half Enrico Endrizzi and showed the presence of mind to reclaim the bouncing ball and offload to Wayne Evans who had the simple job of sliding over to secure the Dragons’ fourth try in the first half. With Evans banging over the conversion from the touchline, the Dragons led 29-3 at the break.
The Dragons had to wait until the 59th minute before adding to their try tally and again Poole was to the fore. He picked the ball up from his boot laces and passed infield to Ashley Smith who flipped the ball back to his centre partner Pat Leach who strolled to the line.
Replacement Jonathan Evans scampered home from close range in the 70th minute with prop Phil Price on hand to finish a sweeping movement with Jack Dixon wrapping up the game when plunging over in added time. Lewis Robling added the extras from the touchline.
