Edinburgh derail Ulster revival

MAGNERS LEAGUE:Edinburgh 21 Ulster 15  ULSTER WERE brought back to terra firma after their heady bonus point win over Munster with defeat by Edinburgh at Murrayfield last night.

This was a match that had extra tension with the return to Edinburgh of the erstwhile Scotland coach Matt Williams. In the event Williams was unable to achieve the win he wanted on Scottish soil largely because of the sluggish start made by Ulster that allowed Edinburgh to dictate the early exchanges and come away with two tries.

Edinburgh, determined to make amends for their recent defeat by Glasgow, were quickly into their stride with a Phil Godman penalty goal from 45 metres after only one minute of play.

Then when a quick throw-in released sevens specialist Andrew Turnbull Edinburgh were able to work the ball across the field, their extra numbers allowing Allister Hogg to put fullback Hugo Southwell in at the corner.

Godman added the conversion for a 10-0 lead before a penalty by Ian Humphreys gave Ulster their first points, only for a second Godman penalty to restore the 10-points advantage.

Edinburgh were calling the shots and when Mike Blair put in a high kick winger Mark McCrea failed to hold the ball. Flanker Roddy Grant grabbed the loose ball and drove towards the Ulster line to set up a ruck from which Jim Hamilton emerged to crash over for the home side's second try.

A second penalty by Humphreys gave Ulster three more points and when the outhalf goaled from 48 metres Ulster were back in the game.

Ulster tried desperately to add further points before half-time but were frustrated by their own indecisive play together with Edinburgh's fierce defence leaving the home side 18-9 ahead the break.

Edinburgh's lead was quickly eroded and again it was Humphreys who did the damage with a another long range goal.

Ulster's momentum, however, was checked by an Edinburgh attack that ended with a penalty kick from Godman that extended the scoreline to 21-12.

Then with 26 seconds remaining Wallace lined up the kick to take the three points on offer to narrow the gap to six points. It was not to be a match winning score but at least Ulster gained a losers bonus point.

EDINBURGH:H Southwell; A Turnbull , B Cairns (N De Luca 61), J Houston, S Webster; P Godman (D Blair 67), M Blair; A Jacobsen, R Ford (A Kelly 64), G Cross (G Kerr 54), C Hamilton, J Hamilton (B Gissing 64), S Cross, R Grant, A Hogg (S Newlands 64).

ULSTER:C Schifcofske; A Trimble, D Cave (B Cunningham 66), P Wallace, M McCrea; I Humphreys (P Steinmetz 68), I Boss (P Marshall 72); T Court (J Fitzpatrick 52), R Best (N Brady 67), B J Botha, E O'Donoghue, M McCullough, S Ferris, D Pollock (K Dawson 61), R Diack (F Paulo 32).

Referee:G Morris (Wales).