ULSTER 30 EDINBURGH 29

Tonight at the Kingspan Stadium Ulster managed to eclipse the high drama of last week's slender victory over the Scarlets with an even narrower defeat of Edinburgh after trailing for most of the match, John Cooney's nerves of steel once again making the difference courtesy of the last kick of the game. The scrum-half, excellent throughout and the author of the province’s second try, sealed the victory with a penalty deep in stoppage time, bringing his tally for the night to 20 points. Will Addison, who delivered a storming performance at full-back, had started the Ulster revival with the side’s first try of the season well into the third quarter, rapidly followed by a superb solo effort from Craig Gilroy. Jordi Murphy’s first start in white and red, with Sean Reidy dropping to the bench, was one of four personnel changes implemented by Head Coach Dan McFarland after the opening weekend’s victory, with Rob Herring replacing John Andrew at hooker, Ross Kane in for Tom O’Toole at prop, and Kieran Treadwell preferred to Alan O’Connor in the second row. Elsewhere Ulster lined up unchanged, with Addison at full-back, Gilroy and Henry Speight on the wings, and Darren Cave combining with last week’s Man of the Match Stuart McCloskey at centre. Billy Burns won his second cap at out-half, alongside Cooney, fresh from signing a new four-year extension to his contract with the province. Up front Andrew Warwick retained the number one jersey, with Iain Henderson at lock, Marcell Coetzee at flanker and Nick Timoney at Number Eight. Poor discipline proved Ulster’s downfall in a poor first quarter. Two early penalties from Simon Hickey put the hosts under pressure straight from the off, but aggressive closing-down from Henderson as Edinburgh dawdled over a loose ball on their own five-metre line offered immediate encouragement. Incisive breaks from Cave and Gilroy followed, but Edinburgh made better use of the ball when they had it and deserved Tom Brown’s 15th-minute try when Henry Pyrgos’s long looped pass sailed over a threadbare Ulster defence for the wing to touch down. Hickey converted and, 13 points adrift already, Ulster opted for touch with their next penalty. A further infringement followed shortly, and after a protracted break for an apparently serious injury to centre Mark Bennett, Cooney elected to go for the posts to open the home account. Frustratingly, however, another Ulster infringement straight from the restart gifted Hickey another three points, clawed back by a Cooney penalty on 26 minutes. Then a lineout steal from Treadwell promised much until Gilroy knocked on in the tackle, but a sublime penalty to touch from Burns set up a crossfield move which saw Murphy just err a toe into touch at the left corner flag before grounding. It was Ulster’s last chance of a half that Edinburgh went on to close out in the safety of the opposition ‘22’, sending the Scots off at the break with a healthy 10-point lead. Half-Time Score Ulster 6 Edinburgh 16 McFarland’s half-time team talk appeared to have the desired effect, as an energised Ulster enjoyed a good eight-minute monopoly on possession, Addison’s pace and trickery in particular causing the Scots problems – but crucially, the score did not come, and the Kingspan Stadium was stunned into silence when replacement back James Johnstone capitalised on a turnover with a breakaway try. The comeback began in earnest on 54 minutes, Addison landing the try his performance deserved after a quickly-taken restart by Speight and a strong hand-off from Cooney, who added the extras. A fourth Hickey penalty within moments made Ulster’s task all the more difficult, but more sterling work from Addison – this time a pinpoint pass to send Cooney clear for the try – brought Ulster to within a converted try of the win once the scrum-half had split the posts. No more than five minutes were needed. Speight worked wonders from a turnover in the Ulster ‘22’, scything diagonally through the Edinburgh line before offloading to Cooney, who fed Gilroy wide right. The winger tore up the 40 metres to the line, evading two tacklers for a fine individual score, converted by Cooney for the one-point lead. Edinburgh’s chance to snatch back the victory came with four minutes remaining – and Hickey’s aim was once again flawless as he split the posts from the Ulster 10-metre line. But failure to release in the tackle right at the death got the Scots in hot water on their own 10-metre line, and Cooney’s nerve held once more as he slotted home with the last kick of the encounter. Full-Time Score Ulster 30 Edinburgh 29 Ulster (15 – 9) Will Addison; Craig Gilroy, Darren Cave, Stuart McCloskey, Henry Speight; Billy Burns, John Cooney (1 – 8) Andrew Warwick, Rob Herring (c), Ross Kane, Kieran Treadwell, Iain Henderson, Marcell Coetzee, Jordi Murphy, Nick Timoney Replacements (16 – 23) Adam McBurney, Eric O’Sullivan, Wiehahn Herbst, Alan O’Connor, Sean Reidy, Dave Shanahan, Angus Curtis, Angus Kernohan Edinburgh (15 – 9) Blair Kinghorn; Dougie Fife, Mark Bennett, Matt Scott, Tom Brown; Simon Hickey, Henry Pyrgos (1 – 8) Pierre Schoeman, Stuart McInally (c), WP Nel, Ben Toolis, Grant Gilchrist, Luke Hamilton, Jamie Ritchie, Bill Mata Replacements (16 – 23) Ross Ford, Allan Dell, Murray McCallum, Fraser McKenzie, Luke Crosbie, Sean Kennedy, Jaco van der Walt, James Johnstone