Aled Brew scores goes over in the corner after a fine move
Newport Gwent Dragons ran home three tries in a comfortable opening day win over Ulster at Rodney Parade.
Aled Brew marked his permanent return with the opening try after 13 minutes, rounding off good build up play.
Richard Fussell added a second just after the hour before Ashley Smith pounced on a loose ball three minutes later before going over.
Ulster offered little in return with Ian Humphreys claiming the visitors' points from his boot.
The Irish side had lost 11 consecutive matches against Welsh regions in the league.
And the omens did not look good for them in terms of ending that run as the Dragons pressed early on trying to send balls through the Ulster defence.
But the first try came from a scrummage on 13 minutes.
Good quick ball under pressure eventually found centre Tom Riley on the right who offloaded to Brew on the overlap to go over in the corner.
James Arlidge sent his conversion wide, but his opposite number Ian Humphreys made no mistake with his penalty moments later after the Dragons were caught offside.
Ulster dominated possession in a scrappy first half without creating much and the Dragon's five-point lead was restored on 23 minutes when Arlidge took advantage of illegalities in the scrum.
The visitors should have closed the gap immediately following another offside, but Humphreys dragged his kick wide.
Arlidge fared little better sending two more kicks in the closing stages of the first half wide to keep the score 8-3.
By then, both sides had been reduced to 14 men with props Ali McKenzie and BJ Botha both yellow carded for collapsing the scrum.
Aled Brew scores goes over in the corner after a fine move
They also had to deal with early injuries, first with Dragons captain Tom Willis suffering a calf injury.
And then visitors lost lock Ryan Caldwell and full-back Bryn Cunningham in quick succession.
The home side tried to build on their lead in the second half but were struggling to break down a firm Ulster defence.
They kept the visitors camped in their own half and could have had their second try 10 minutes after the restart.
Wing Richard Fussell broke away brilliantly and looked to be heading for a solo try, but he waited for support and the final ball from Nigel Hall could not find its way to a host of players lining up to go over in the corner.
Instead, the Dragons had to settle for a penalty from an offside which Arlidge sent between the posts, but within seven minutes, Humphreys pulled it back to 11-6.
The hosts' persistence eventually paid off though and they claimed their second try on 62 minutes after Riley timed his run well before finding Jason Tovey who delivered to Fussell to cross in the corner for an unconverted try to make it 16-6.
That 10 point lead was extended by a further seven just three minutes later when centre Ashley Smith raced on to a loose ball and guided it unopposed over the line after a good challenge by replacement Steve Jones on Humphreys. Tovey converted.
Ulster rarely threatened a fight back, but when they did unlock the Dragons defence at the death, Thomas Anderson spilled the ball just before the line.
Interview: Dragons coach Paul Turner
Dragons coach Paul Turner:
"We had to break the game up a little bit today because Ulster are formidable up front and they've got good half-backs.
"I just felt we were a little more composed - we knew what we had to do.
"Defensively we muscled up but that was key to the win."
Ulster Director of Rugby David Humphreys: "Our defeat in this game shows the difference between what happens in friendly matches and in competition.
"We are all hugely disappointed but we still believe we are in a much better place and will end up a much better team this season.
"It was disappointing but we will make a proper assessment of our strength after three or four months of competitive rugby.
"We showed some good stuff in our pre-season fixtures and one bad display in the first game of the season does not change that."
Dragons: Tovey, Brew, Riley, Smith, Fussell, Arlidge, W. Evans, McKenzie, Willis, Hall, A. Jones, Charteris, Lydiate, G. Thomas, Bearman. Replacements: M. Thomas for Tovey (78), S. Jones for Arlidge (62), Gustafson for Lydiate (41), Sidoli for G. Thomas (56). Not Used: Robinson, Webb, Walker.
Ulster: Cunningham, Nagusa, Trimble, Whitten, Danielli, Humphreys, Boss, Young, Kyriacou, Botha, Tuohy, Caldwell, Henry, Faloon, Diack. Replacements: Wallace for Cunningham (29), Cave for Nagusa (68), D. Fitzpatrick for Whitten (36), Marshall for Humphreys (68), Brady for Kyriacou (56), O'Donoghue for Henry (36), Anderson for Diack (68).
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