John Cooney's 16 points weren't enough for Ulster tonight at the Kingspan Stadium as Duncan Weir's last-gasp drop goal gave Edinburgh a victory which elevates them above Jono Gibbes's side in the Guinness Pro14 Conference B standings.
The defeat, while not necessarily catastrophic at this stage, drastically increases the pressure on the Province as the business end of the season approaches, with six matches left to secure a play-off berth.
Both sides sit on 46 points, with Richard Cockerill’s team currently ahead of Ulster courtesy of their marginally superior points difference.
Tommy Bowe’s speedy recovery from injury brought the winger straight back into the starting XV as one of four changes from the side that defeated the Southern Kings last Friday, with Louis Ludik, Jean Deysel and Rob Herring also returning to the side.
Ludik lined up at full-back behind a backline of Craig Gilroy, Luke Marshall, Stuart McCloskey and Bowe, with Johnny McPhillips and Cooney teaming again in the half-back slots.
Up front Andrew Warwick and Wiehahn Herbst propped either side of Herring, with skipper Alan O’Connor and Kieran Treadwell again at lock, and flankers Matthew Rea and Nick Timoney making up the back row alongside Deysel.
Unfortunately Gilroy had little chance to make an impression similar to that of his hat-trick performance against the South Africans, picking up a knock within the first five minutes and making way for David Busby.
The early change did little to upset Ulster, however, with Cooney touching down a try minutes later after Ludik and Timoney had combined at pace down the right wing.
Edinburgh battled well to force their way straight back into the game, Viliame Mata coming perilously close to grounding by the left-hand corner flag but just veering out of play under the tackle, before the same player knocked on directly under the posts just before the half-hour.
Winger Jason Harries made no such mistake five minutes before the break, latching onto Sam Hidalgo-Clyne’s kick to the corner as Edinburgh effortlessly turned defence into attack from a scrum on their own ‘22’.
A second try for the visitors almost came in the dying seconds of the half, kept at bay only by a combination of stubborn Ulster defence right on the try-line as the Edinburgh forwards recycled a dozen times, and a fantastic ball-spilling tackle by Marshall on Jaco van der Walt once the attack changed tack and the ball spread to the backs.
Half-Time Score Ulster 7 Edinburgh 7
Cooney, moved to 10 after Jonny Stewart had replaced the injured McPhillips, opened the second period with a well-struck penalty from distance, and once a protracted spell of Edinburgh pressure came to naught through an untidy knock-on, he added another long-range effort to stretch the lead to six.
However the advantage soon evaporated as lock Lewis Carmichael bludgeoned his way through an exposed Ulster defence just after the hour mark for a somewhat soft score, van der Walt’s conversion edging the Scots a point into the lead.
Cooney’s third penalty of the night swung the scoreboard back in Ulster’s favour on 65 minutes, and after soaking up 10 minutes of inevitable Edinburgh pressure, two successive penalties got play deep in the visitors’ half.
Ulster hovered close to the opposition ‘22’for several minutes – but not long enough as the concession of a penalty for holding on too long in the tackle gave Edinburgh a final chance – and replacement out-half Weir took full advantage with his stoppage-time drop goal.
Next up for Ulster is another tough game, away to Scarlets on Saturday 24 February.
Full-Time Score Ulster 16 Edinburgh 17
Ulster (15 – 9) Louis Ludik; Craig Gilroy, Luke Marshall, Stuart McCloskey, Tommy Bowe; Johnny McPhillips, John Cooney
(1 – 8) Andrew Warwick, Rob Herring, Wiehahn Herbst; Alan O'Connor (c), Kieran Treadwell; Matthew Rea, Nick Timoney, Jean Deysel
Replacements (16 – 23) John Andrew, Kyle McCall, Rodney Ah You, Matthew Dalton, Chris Henry, Jonny Stewart, Darren Cave, David Busby
Edinburgh (15 – 9) Dougie Fife; Jason Harries, Mark Bennett, Chris Dean, Duhan Van Der Merwe; Jaco Van Der Walt, Sam Hidalgo-Clyne
(1 – 8) Jordan Lay, Neil Cochrane, Murray McCallum, Fraser McKenzie (c), Lewis Carmichael, Viliame Mata, John Hardie, Cornell Du Preez
Replacements (16 - 23) Cameron Fenton, Rory Sutherland, Eliot Millar Mills, Magnus Bradbury, Luke Crosbie, Nathan Fowles, Duncan Weir, Glenn Bryce
The defeat, while not necessarily catastrophic at this stage, drastically increases the pressure on the Province as the business end of the season approaches, with six matches left to secure a play-off berth.
Both sides sit on 46 points, with Richard Cockerill’s team currently ahead of Ulster courtesy of their marginally superior points difference.
Tommy Bowe’s speedy recovery from injury brought the winger straight back into the starting XV as one of four changes from the side that defeated the Southern Kings last Friday, with Louis Ludik, Jean Deysel and Rob Herring also returning to the side.
Ludik lined up at full-back behind a backline of Craig Gilroy, Luke Marshall, Stuart McCloskey and Bowe, with Johnny McPhillips and Cooney teaming again in the half-back slots.
Up front Andrew Warwick and Wiehahn Herbst propped either side of Herring, with skipper Alan O’Connor and Kieran Treadwell again at lock, and flankers Matthew Rea and Nick Timoney making up the back row alongside Deysel.
Unfortunately Gilroy had little chance to make an impression similar to that of his hat-trick performance against the South Africans, picking up a knock within the first five minutes and making way for David Busby.
The early change did little to upset Ulster, however, with Cooney touching down a try minutes later after Ludik and Timoney had combined at pace down the right wing.
Edinburgh battled well to force their way straight back into the game, Viliame Mata coming perilously close to grounding by the left-hand corner flag but just veering out of play under the tackle, before the same player knocked on directly under the posts just before the half-hour.
Winger Jason Harries made no such mistake five minutes before the break, latching onto Sam Hidalgo-Clyne’s kick to the corner as Edinburgh effortlessly turned defence into attack from a scrum on their own ‘22’.
A second try for the visitors almost came in the dying seconds of the half, kept at bay only by a combination of stubborn Ulster defence right on the try-line as the Edinburgh forwards recycled a dozen times, and a fantastic ball-spilling tackle by Marshall on Jaco van der Walt once the attack changed tack and the ball spread to the backs.
Half-Time Score Ulster 7 Edinburgh 7
Cooney, moved to 10 after Jonny Stewart had replaced the injured McPhillips, opened the second period with a well-struck penalty from distance, and once a protracted spell of Edinburgh pressure came to naught through an untidy knock-on, he added another long-range effort to stretch the lead to six.
However the advantage soon evaporated as lock Lewis Carmichael bludgeoned his way through an exposed Ulster defence just after the hour mark for a somewhat soft score, van der Walt’s conversion edging the Scots a point into the lead.
Cooney’s third penalty of the night swung the scoreboard back in Ulster’s favour on 65 minutes, and after soaking up 10 minutes of inevitable Edinburgh pressure, two successive penalties got play deep in the visitors’ half.
Ulster hovered close to the opposition ‘22’for several minutes – but not long enough as the concession of a penalty for holding on too long in the tackle gave Edinburgh a final chance – and replacement out-half Weir took full advantage with his stoppage-time drop goal.
Next up for Ulster is another tough game, away to Scarlets on Saturday 24 February.
Full-Time Score Ulster 16 Edinburgh 17
Ulster (15 – 9) Louis Ludik; Craig Gilroy, Luke Marshall, Stuart McCloskey, Tommy Bowe; Johnny McPhillips, John Cooney
(1 – 8) Andrew Warwick, Rob Herring, Wiehahn Herbst; Alan O'Connor (c), Kieran Treadwell; Matthew Rea, Nick Timoney, Jean Deysel
Replacements (16 – 23) John Andrew, Kyle McCall, Rodney Ah You, Matthew Dalton, Chris Henry, Jonny Stewart, Darren Cave, David Busby
Edinburgh (15 – 9) Dougie Fife; Jason Harries, Mark Bennett, Chris Dean, Duhan Van Der Merwe; Jaco Van Der Walt, Sam Hidalgo-Clyne
(1 – 8) Jordan Lay, Neil Cochrane, Murray McCallum, Fraser McKenzie (c), Lewis Carmichael, Viliame Mata, John Hardie, Cornell Du Preez
Replacements (16 - 23) Cameron Fenton, Rory Sutherland, Eliot Millar Mills, Magnus Bradbury, Luke Crosbie, Nathan Fowles, Duncan Weir, Glenn Bryce