Edinburgh returned to winning ways with a bonus-point victory over the Dragons which moved them back into the top eight of the United Rugby Championship ahead of the Saturday fixtures. Having missed out on the play-offs in each of the last two seasons, it’s imperative the capital club remain there. Sean Everitt, their coach, said before the game that he reckoned Edinburgh would need to win four of their final five games to guarantee a play-off place. He is now looking at three from four against Sharks (home), Zebre (away), Connacht (away) and Ulster (home). The damage was done in the first half as Edinburgh scored four tries, two from young hooker Paddy Harrison. Darcy Graham, who was outstanding, and Pierre Schoeman also crossed to ensure the bonus point was in the bag before the interval. The second half was more of a slow burn. The Dragons scored early through Aaron Wainwright but Edinburgh were patient and further tries from Boan Venter and Matt Currie put the game beyond the Welsh side as the hosts won 38-5. Graham, the player of the match, was Edinburgh’s most creative source and admitted he bamboozled himself at times. “Sometimes I don’t know what I’m doing,” said the Scotland winger. “I get the ball and run and think afterwards. It’s good to be back with boys. It feels like we’ve been away in [Scotland] camp for a long time so it’s great to have everyone together and get a convincing win.” The only downside for the home team was that they lost both Marshall Sykes and Duhan van der Merwe to injury in the early stages. Sykes was seen trudging to the changing room on crutches while van der Merwe appeared to have suffered another ankle injury. “There were some really good moments in that game,” Everitt said afterwards. “We had a lot of opportunities in the first 20 minutes and didn’t quite get over the line, but the pressure counted at the end and we got the scores that we needed by half-time. “It was always going to be difficult playing into a strong wind in the second half and I thought the guys did really well to keep them down to one try. Probably not a perfect performance. But we put enough pressure on them and our disciplined defence kept them out.” The coach was particularly pleased with Harrison's contribution. “That’s the Paddy that we know,” said Everitt. “He’s been a bit quiet in the last few games that he’s played, but he certainly does add impact. Sometimes we joke and say maybe he should play inside centre, and he showed the pace tonight to be able to do so. “And Darcy Graham’s individual brilliance was outstanding and he deserved the man of the match.” Edinburgh enjoyed a greater share of possession and territory in the opening quarter but it took time to break the Dragons down. In fact, it was the Welsh visitors who should have opened the scoring through their young full-back, Huw Anderson. He chipped ahead but then tried to hack the ball over the try-line. His touch was too heavy and the ball went dead. The hosts took advantage, winning a penalty near the Dragons 22 which they kicked to the corner. Grant Gilchrist took it cleanly and the lineout drive was far too powerful for the visitors, allowing Harrison to score the try. If his first try was workmanlike, the second was a little bit special. Graham was the creator, chipping ahead, gathering then aiming another kick into space. Harrison pinned his ears back and sprinted 50 metres to get there first and score. Ross Thompson had missed the first conversion but landed this one to put Edinburgh 12-0 up after 20 minutes. They moved further ahead with their next attack, Graham finishing after a clever kick from Ben Vellacott. Thompson’s conversion made it 19-0. Dragons haven’t won in the URC since the opening weekend of the season and their cause wasn’t helped by a yellow card for Ashton Hewitt. The winger took out Vellacott and there was a case to be made for a penalty try but referee Morne Ferreira was content with the sin-binning. With Hewitt on the sidelines, Edinburgh soon had the bonus point in the bag. After a period camped on the Dragons line, Schoeman eventually plunged over with a neat show and go. Thompson converted and 26-0 was a fair reflection of their first-half dominance. The Dragons were in danger of being cut adrift but they came out for the second period with renewed vigour. They kicked to the corner then built the phases before Wainwright was able to stretch over from close range for their first points of the night. Will Reed was well off target with the conversion attempt. Things got a little stodgy after that. Edinburgh had to have their defensive wits about them but they gradually took control again, moving the Dragons back up the field. The home backline wasn’t having the freedom they enjoyed in the first half but the Edinburgh forwards were starting to punch holes. The impressive Magnus Bradbury went close and Everitt’s side scored their fifth try soon after, Venter forcing himself over. Cammy Scott, on for Thompson at stand-off, despatched the conversion with aplomb to move Edinburgh 33-5 ahead with 15 minutes remaining. Edinburgh had one more big attack left in them and worked the ball wide to Matt Currie on the left wing. The centre still had plenty to do, but cut inside and showed good strength to ground the ball. Scott couldn’t land the conversion this time but it didn’t matter as Edinburgh ran out 38-5 winners, outscoring the visitors by six tries to one. Scorers: Edinburgh: Tries: Harrison 2, Graham, Schoeman, Venter, Currie. Cons: Thompson 3, Scott. Dragons: Try: Wainwright. Yellow card: Hewitt (Dragons, 27min) Edinburgh: W Goosen; D Graham, M Currie, J Lang, D van der Merwe (R McCann 12); R Thompson (C Scott 61), B Vellacott (A Price 65); P Schoeman (B Venter 51), P Harrison (D Cherry 51), D Rae (J Sebastian 51), M Sykes (G Young 9), G Gilchrist, J Ritchie, H Watson (F Douglas 65), M Bradbury. Dragons: H Anderson; R Dyer, J Westwood, A Owen, A Hewitt (J Rosser 48); W Reed (J Thomas 66), R Williams (D Blacker 66); R Martinez (D Kelleher-Griffiths 48), E Dee (B Coghlan 55), P Latu (N Evans 68), J Davies, S Cummins (B Langton-Cryer 66), S Lewis-Hughes, H Keddie, A Wainwright (T Basham 66). Referee: Morne Ferreira (SARU). Attendance: 6,240.