London Welsh have won their first European contest - but they almost blew their big chance.
A week after being given a torrid introduction to the Amlin Challenge Cup with a 68-19 defeat by Stade Francais Paris, the newcomers went within a point of squandering a 12-points advantage before hanging on for a 32-31 Pool 5 win over I Cavalieri Prato at Stadio Enrico Chersoni.
Hooker Dan George starter the scoring with a try after 11 minutes and wing Joe Ajuwa grabbed a try in each half for the Exiles.
"Playing in Italy is as hard as you want to make it for yourself and we made it difficult by not taking our chances - we just didn't finish things off," said Exiles head coach Lyn Jones.
"In football parlance we missed four open goals and that meant we just couldn't quite put them away although we created plenty of chances and we won in the end.
"There were a few players who put up their hands with good performances - Greg Bateman at tight head prop, Mick Hills at openside and Martin Purdy in the second row - and they could come into contention for next weekend."
