Edoardo Gori and Leonardo Ghiraldini scored either side of half-time as Treviso made it back-to-back wins over Italian rivals Zebre with a 26-18 victory at Stadio di Monigo in the RaboDirect PRO12.

Both sides scored two tries each but Zebre left it too late to make an impact – with Gori putting Treviso in control in the first half before captain Ghiraldini stretched the lead immediately after the break.

Kris Burton also put in an assured performance with the boot, finding the target with two drop goals, two penalties and two conversions as he finished the afternoon with a personal tally of 16.

Late tries from full-back Paolo Buso and Giovanbattista Venditti proved to be nothing more than a consolation as Zebre narrowly missed out on a losing bonus point.

The win makes it three on the bounce in the RaboDirect PRO12 for Treviso, the first time they have accomplished that feat since October 2011.

It also sees them jump back above Cardiff Blues – who had defeated Newport Gwent Dragons on Friday – into seventh position in the league table.

Franco Smith had called on his Treviso side not to make the same mistake as last week, where they had narrowly beaten Zebre 10-3 despite controlling possession throughout.

And it seemed they had heeded his advice in the opening stages as Italy fly-half Burton got them off the mark with a second-minute drop goal.

He doubled the lead with another five minutes later as Treviso looked to make the most of their early control of possession.

But their opponents were not about to let them get out of sight, with Luciano Orquera narrowing the deficit to three with a penalty.

Any chance Zebre had of building some momentum took a hit after 21 minutes when Italy flanker Mauro Bergamasco was sent to the sin bin for a high tackle.

It was the advantage the home side needed, as Burton knocked over a penalty immediately to restore the six-point lead.

Despite being down to 14-men Orquera had the chance to narrow the gap once again on 25 minutes, but the fly-half missed his effort.

It would prove to be a costly miss as Treviso responded instantly, with wing Gori crossing to stretch out the lead for the home side.

The Veneto outfit recycled the ball well and when they eventually went wide Gori was able to exploit a gap to score – and Burton made no mistake with the extra points to make the score 16-3.

With Bergamasco – whose time in the sin-bin had seen Zebre ship ten points – ready to return it seemed there would be another twist, as Treviso hooker Ghiraldini saw yellow for a dangerous tackle on Buso.

Zebre were not able to use the numerical advantage in the same way their opponents were able to, however, and during Ghiraldini’s time on the sidelines they were limited to just a solitary penalty from Gonzalo Garcia.

On the stroke of half-time it was Burton who had the final say, dispatching his second penalty of the afternoon after persistent Zebre indiscipline at the breakdown to give the home side a 19-6 lead at the interval.

And the home side wasted no time after the restart, with captain Ghiraldini making amends for his earlier spell in the sin-bin with a rare try just one minute into the half.

Burton was once again on target with the conversion to make it 26-6.

The visitors were not about to let Treviso run away with the encounter and full-back Buso kept them in with a shout when he crossed just before the hour mark – though Alberto Chillon missed the conversion, leaving the score 26-11.

Replacement Venditti crossed for a second Zebre try with one minute remaining but, despite Tito Tebaldi’s successful conversion, it was not enough to earn a bonus point.