The former Wales playmaker grabbed two touchdowns and slotted a series of crucial kicks to floor the jittery Gunners.

Edinburgh could not have dreaded a worse start as they found themselves seven points adrift with only three minutes on the clock.

Slack defence allowed stand-off Sweeney to dart through a gap for an opportunist try and he followed up to confidently bang over the conversion.

The score acted as a wake-up call to the Gunners and they repaired some of the early damage when Phil Godman slotted a penalty in the 13th minute.

But the anticipation of the home fans was immediately dashed as the Welshmen created a second touchdown.

This time it was scrum-half Wayne Evans who wriggled through after fine work by giant prop Adam Black, with Sweeney again adding the extras.

Godman was on target again to keep his side in the picture.

There was a further blow for the Dragons as Rhys Thomas was yellow-carded for a dangerous challenge.

The Gunners reappeared after the restart with Ally Warnock in the outside-half berth in place of Godman.

And within seconds he was lining up a shot at goal when Craig Hamilton was obstructed by former Glasgow star Andy Hall.

However, Warnock’s effort long-range fell marginally short.

The contest burst wide open five minutes later as Nick De Luca powered over for a superb try in the wake of clever interplay featuring Benny Meyer and Matt Mustchin.

Warnock’s conversion was spot on to reduce the leeway to a single point.

But Sweeney halted the revival with another excellent touchdown, latching on to a perfectly-weighted chip.