Luke Burgess scored his first GUINNESS PRO12 try as Zebre beat Benetton Treviso 18-8 to win three games in a row for the first time in their history.

After an early exchange of penalties, Burgess’ 33^rd-minute effort handed the visitors the edge at the break.

To their credit, Treviso battled hard in the second half with Chris Smylie’s try reducing the deficit to three points with seven minutes to play.

But Giulio Toniolatti’s immediate reply made the game safe for the visitors who, in the process, confined their opponents to their 22^nd defeat in a row.

It was Zebre, now up to tenth in the table, who got the first points on the board after four minutes when Ornel Gega was penalised in the Treviso defence and Carlo Canna slotted over a simple penalty from in front of the posts.

Treviso looked to hit back straight away as they passed the ball over the half-way line and Marco Barbini suddenly seized on the chance to break forward but he did not have the support with him and the ball was turned over.

The hosts continued to hold the momentum though and after Zebre were penalised at the scrum, they kicked towards the corner.

The pressure was now firmly on the Zebre defence and after edging closer towards the visitors line, the ball was recycled out right where Enrico Bacchin thought he had nudged over the line.

Unfortunately for the Treviso centre, referee Nigel Owens had spotted a double movement but, with the hosts holding an earlier advantage, play was brought back and Jayden Hayward subsequently levelled with scores with a simple penalty on 12 minutes.

After a lively start, the game started to become somewhat disjointed with both sides opting to exchange kicks rather than keep ball in hand.

Just short of the half hour mark, Treviso were handed the chance to add to their score though when Hayward went to chase his own chip forward and was illegally stopped by Ulrich Beyers, leading to Owens awarded a penalty 40 metres out.

But despite having the wind in his favour, Hayward watched on as his kick agonisingly bounced back off the post.

And the miss was compounded just minutes later when Zebre’s Burgess went over for the first try of the match on 33 minutes.

Initially it had seemed that van Schalkwyk had crossed following a short line out but after consultation with the TMO, Owen ruled that the flanker had knocked on after pressure from Tommaso Iannone and a Treviso scrum was awarded.

But the Zebre pack overpowered their opponents at the set-piece, Burgess picked up on the loose ball and ran in to make the score 8-3 – Canna striking the post with his conversion.

That was the way it stayed until the break with Treviso still within touching distance of ending their long losing run.

The hosts went on the attack after the restart but once again Zebre’s defence held firm, and on 55 minutes they extended their lead to eight when replacement Edoardo Padovani slotted over a penalty.

Treviso did not let their heads drop and continued to try and chip away at the Zebre defence, with a great chance to cross the try line arriving on 69 minutes.

Luke McLean made the initial break and Andrea Pratichetti looked like he had got in but Kayle van Zyl managed to hold him up on the line.

The hosts still had the momentum with play being bought back for an earlier offside and after minutes of considerable pressure, the ball was played out wide on the right for Smylie to cross – Hayward wide with a tricky conversion on the touchline which would have reduced the deficit to just one.

But any hopes of Treviso completing the comeback were dashed just moments later when Zebre broke up field and played in Pratichetti to score in the corner with Padovani’s conversion making it 18-8.

To buy tickets for the GUINNESS PRO12 Grand Final click here. Also follow us on Facebook, join the conversation on Twitter, sign up to our YouTube channel for extensive match highlights and sign up for our newsletter for regular updates on the GUINNESS PRO12.