Edinburgh 14 Ulster 8

Ulster's hopes of a home semi-final in the RaboDirect PRO12 were dealt a blow following the side's 14 - 8 defeat to Edinburgh at Murrayfield. A losing bonus point meant Mark Anscombe’s side moved to the top of the table, but a win for either Leinster or Glasgow in the RDS tomorrow will see them leapfrog the Province into top spot. Two penalties from Piers Francis and one from Paddy Jackson meant it was 6-3 at the break. Stuart McInally and Andrew Trimble both scored tries in the second half but three missed penalties from Paddy Jackson proved costly as Edinburgh saw out a hard-fought contest. Edinburgh could have had a try in the game’s opening exchanges. Good pressure from the home side resulted in a charge-down from Ross Rennie but Andrew Trimble was first to the ball and averted the danger. Francis kicked his first penalty of the night on 16 minutes and doubled Edinburgh’s advantage ten minutes before half-time after Ulster flyhalf Paddy Jackson was adjudged to have strayed offside. Jackson got Ulster’s first points of the evening a minute before the interval when he slotted a penalty over from distance. Half Time: Edinburgh 6 Ulster 3 At the start of the second half, Ulster were awarded three penalties in the space of ten minutes. In the swirling wind and difficult conditions, all three were wide of the mark. They proved costly however, when Edinburgh’s Netani Tale burst through tackles and offloaded to Stuart McInally who spun over the line. Ulster’s best move of the match came ten minutes later. Michael Allen found space in midfield and popped a superb pass to fullback Jared Payne. He in turn grubbered through for Andrew Trimble who grounded the ball for the try in the corner. The conversion was missed, but the try gave Ulster hope that they could get something from the game. However, Francis landed his third penalty of the night with five minutes remaining in the match. That proved to be enough for the victory and Edinburgh held on to win the game.