Edinburgh toiled for the bonus point win they so badly needed to keep their Guinness PRO12 top six hopes alive but Alex Toolis’ try with the last play of the game kept them on course.
The capital side took 52 minutes to score their first try but rattled off the other three in a frantic final few minutes, Damien Hoyland grabbing a brace and Sam Hidalgo-Clyne another before Toolis added the crucial fourth after two minutes after the clock hit 80.
It means Edinburgh still have a chance of sixth place and European Champions Cup qualification but they took a long time to subdue a Zebre who went scoreless for the third match in a row and were playing for little but pride.
The home side’s attacking play was laboured for a forgettable first half but new stand-off Jason Tovey got them going after the break, Hoyland came on to a storming game and the arrival of sam Hidalgo-Clyne off the bench proved crucial with a try and two assists.
The signs that Edinburgh’s preferred script wasn’t to be followed came almost immediately as Edinburgh’s international front row were penalised at the first scrum, and then they lost skipper Mike Coman to injury just seven minutes into his 50th appearance for the club.
Zebre had the ball for almost the entire first quarter, but couldn’t keep a hold of it in dangerous areas and instead Tovey, in his first appearance, banged over a 40 metre penalty when the Italians were offside at a maul.
Edinburgh should have had the first of their four tries after Coman’s replacement Magnus Bradbury smashed through tackles into the 22, but Mike Allen’s score was chalked off after the TMO spotted a forward pass and Zebre’s defence held firm.
The Italians appeared more likely to score but twice knocked on in the 22 and Kelly Haimona was short with a long penalty.
Just before the break hooker Oliviero Fabiani scooted over the line suspiciously easily after a maul broke down and sure enough the TMO spotted a blatant obstruction to keep it to 3-0 at half-time.
That clearly wasn’t good enough for Edinburgh and they showed some early second half purpose with Bradbury again prominent, but Phil Burleigh had the ball stripped close to the line.
Finally in 52 minutes Hidalgo-Clyne’s arrival off the bench brought the first try.
Haimona’s high kick went behind his chasers in the wind and the scrum-half seized on the loose ball, kicking on for Hoyland to win the chase to hack over the line and fall on the ball.
Tovey converted, and within four minutes Hoyland had a second try, finishing smartly at the corner after repeated forward drives close to the whitewash, the on-loan stand-off converting this time from the touchline.
Ten minutes later Tovey showed good pace and an off-load to Stuart McInally into the 22, Hidalgo-Clyne being alert to spot a huge defensive hole in support and strolling over for the third try.
That left Edinburgh 14 minutes to get the bonus, but they made the crowd wait until time before Hoyland’s won them attacking position with a thrilling run, and time had expired when replacement lock Toolis crashed over in the corner for the bonus.
Att: 3799
Edinburgh: B Kinghorn; D Hoyland, M Allen (C Dean 56), P Burleigh, T Brown (W Helu 75); J Tovey, S Kennedy (S Hidalgo-Clyne 49); A Dickinson (A Dell 67), R Ford (S McInally 40), WP Nel (J Andress 74); A Bresler (A Toolis 74), B Toolis; M Coman (capt, M Bradbury 7), H Watson, C du Preez.
Treviso: K Van Zyl; U Beyers, T Boni (C Bisegni 62), M Pratichetti, L Sarto; K Haimona (C Canna 56), G Palazzani (L Burgess 68); A Lovotti, O Fabiani, D Chistolini (P Ceccarelli 49); Q Geldenhuys (capt), M Bortolami (G Koegnelenberg 62); J Cook, F Ruzza (E Caffini 36), J Meyer.
Ref: L Hodges (WRU)