Displaying more grit than the 11 tonnes of road salt distributed around Murrayfield before kick off, Edinburgh ploughed their way through to third spot in the Magners League table with a deserved two-try win over Cardiff Blues.

A crowd of 1,569 braved the artic conditions and were rewarded with an enterprising display from Edinburgh with debutants Rory Hutton and Davie Young deserving special praise for their contributions on the night.

Against a team bursting with Lions stars and overseas imports, Edinburgh showed ingenuity around the gain-line and doggedness at the breakdown with back row forwards Ross Rennie – later named man of the match – and Roddy Grant shining.

Remember Edinburgh’s European adventure resumes next weekend when we face old foes Ulster across the Irish Sea at Ravenhill in a Heineken Cup Pool Four clash (15 January, kick off 8pm, live on Sky Sports). 

Cardiff, who fielded Jamie Roberts and Martyn Williams in their starting line-up, took an early lead through a penalty from Ceri Sweeney before the reliable right boot of Chris Paterson put Edinburgh back on level terms on the seven-minute mark.

Another Paterson penalty gave Edinburgh the lead, but Cardiff responded with another goal from Sweeney in an evenly-contested opening 30 minutes of play.

Something special was required to puncture Cardiff’s streetwise defence and it came courtesy of new boy Hutton who ghosted over the gain-line.

The National Academy stand-off, who is a qualified electrician, provided the much-needed spark to the back line.

After throwing a better dummy than an award-winning mannequin salesman, Hutton seemed destined to score, but was hauled down marginally short of the whitewash.

Nevertheless the 22-year-old kept his composure and managed to pop an off-load up into the arms of Rennie who powered over from close range to score.

It handed the home side an injection of confidence after the recent much-publicised shortage of tries and put a smile on the faces of Edinburgh’s supporters.

Paterson added the extras to put Edinburgh into a comfortable 13-6 lead heading into the half-time interval.

Almost immediately straight after the break, Edinburgh kept the momentum going and Tim Visser combined with fellow wing Jim Thompson for the latter to score in the corner.

At 18-6 the game seemed to be in the bag, but some refereeing decisions that angered the home crowd coupled with some uncharacteristically poor decisions from Edinburgh players at the breakdown area handed Cardiff a lifeline.

Despite soldiering on after replacement Fraser McKenzie was yellow-carded for coming in at the side of the ruck and kicking the ball away, Cardiff hit back through penalties from Leigh Halfpenny and Sweeney.

But other penalty attempts from Cardiff’s Dai Flanagan proved wide of the mark and kept Edinburgh ahead with a six-point advantage.

Paterson rounded off a productive night with his third penalty of the game to give Edinburgh our first victory of the New Year.

Full credit to Murrayfield’s ground staff who worked tirelessly to ensure that the match went ahead – it was the only game that took place in round 11 of the Magners League.

Edinburgh: Paterson (three penalties, one conversion), Rennie (try), Thompson (try)
Edinburgh: Chris Paterson (capt), Jim Thompson, Ben Cairns, John Houston, Tim Visser, Rory Hutton, Greig Laidlaw, Allan Jacobsen, Ross Ford, David Young, Jim Hamilton, Scott MacLeod, Scott Newlands, Ross Rennie, Roddy Grant.
Replacements: Andrew Kelly (for Ford), Kyle Traynor (for Jacobsen), Craig Hamilton (for MacLeod), Fraser McKenzie (for Newlands), Ross Samson, Steve Jones, Mark Robertson (for Hutton).
Blues: Leigh Halfpenny; Richard Mustoe, Casey Laulala, Jamie Roberts, Tom James; Ceri Sweeney, Gareth Cooper; Sam Hobbs, T Rhys Thomas, Taufa'au Filise, Deiniol Jones, Paul Tito (capt), Andries Pretorius, Martyn Williams, Andy Powell.
Replacements: Rhys James, Scott Andrews, Bradley Davies, Ben White, Richie Rees, Dai Flanagan, Gareth Thomas.
Referee: John Lacey (IRFU)