Despite playing with gusto, Edinburgh struggled to overcome Ulster at a gusty Ravenhill and the Belfast wind blew away the Black and Red Army’s chances of securing top spot in Heineken Cup’s Pool Four.

Mathematically, it is still possible for Rob Moffat’s troops to qualify for the knock-out stages of Europe’s premier rugby competition, but unfortunately Edinburgh now do not control their own destiny in the tournament.

The impressive Jim Thompson scored his second try in as many games to give Edinburgh a real chance to beat Ulster for the third time this season, but some mistakes at key times ultimately proved to be costly on the night.

In reflection, there were plenty of positives that emerged from the contest and in a forward-orientated contest, Edinburgh’s pack put in a whole-hearted shift.

But unfortunately Edinburgh could not manage to turn possession into points and in what proved to be an ‘arm-wrestle’ of a game, Ulster managed to establish the upper hand.

A flash of brilliance of man of the match Isaac Boss proved decisive, but the fact that will leave Edinburgh kicking themselves was that, just moments earlier, the away side had been camped out on Ulster’s try-line before being turned over.

In all truthfulness, the game – like the two previous meetings earlier in the season – could have gone either way, but Ulster ensured that the pendulum swung in their favour.

A wet and windy Friday night in Belfast, Edinburgh kicked off in driving rain – not the perfect setting for adventurous rugby.

The home side started by trying to power their way up the pitch with a series of ‘pick and drives’ inside their own half.

Eventually Edinburgh were penalised for an infringement at the breakdown and Ulster kicked for touch with Ravenhill shaking in the strong wind.

Edinburgh finally turned the ball over and attacked with intent with Phil Godman dispensing a clever inside pass which was taken upfield by Tim Visser.

But the momentum was halted when Visser was penalised for holding on and, with the backing of a vocal home crowd, the home side started to take control.

David Young was yellow carded for a couple of offences leaving Edinburgh understaffed and facing an Ulster attack.

Scotland wing Simon Danielli’s timely knock-on prevented Ulster from punishing 14-man Edinburgh.

With calm assurance, Edinburgh turned over the ball and Chris Paterson kicked for touch; putting Ulster on the back-foot.

On 21 minutes, Edinburgh took the lead through a Paterson penalty after some constructive play.

Edinburgh showed enterprise going forward, but were caught napping when Ulster attacked wide on the left, had the numbers and Darren Cave dotted down in the corner.

Paterson then struck a magnificent penalty which swirled in the wind before darting between the posts to put Edinburgh back in front.

After the break, Ian Humphreys nailed a tricky penalty to put Ulster back into the lead.

Then, after pegging Ulster back inside their own 22 for a 10-minute period, Edinburgh were turned over and were running back up the pitch to defend.

Nick De Luca’s offload in the tackle found Tim Visser under extreme pressure and Ulster were awarded a scrum on Edinburgh’s 22.

Ulster then scored their second try of the night when Isaac Boss showed and then went leaving Edinburgh’s defence flat-footed to score under the posts.

Stephen Ferris was then yellow-carded and Jim Thompson scored a classy try in the corner and Paterson added the extras.

Humphreys then extended Ulster’s lead to 18-13 in favour of the home side, although replays suggested that his effort had been narrowly wide of the mark.

The younger brother of the Ulster legend then sealed victory with the final kick of the game to bring the curtain down on a disappointing night for Edinburgh.

Ulster: J Smith; A Trimble, D Cave, P Wallace, S Danielli; I Humphreys, I Boss; T Court, N Brady, BJ Botha; D Tuohy, E O'Donoghue; S Ferris, D Pollock, C Henry (capt).
Replacements: N O'Connor for Humphreys 72, B Young for Court 62, A Kyriacou for Brady 62, D Fitzpatrick for Botha 75, Caldwell for Tuohy 72.
Not Used: Anderson, Willis, Nagusa.
Edinburgh: C Paterson (capt), J Thompson, B Cairns, J Houston, T Visser, P Godman, G Laidlaw, A Jacobsen, R Ford, D Young, S MacLeod, J Hamilton, S Newlands, A MacDonald, R Grant
Replacements: G Cross for Young 40, Traynor for Jacobsen, McKenzie for MacDonald, N De Luca for Cairns 50, M Robertson for Visser 65, R Samson for Laidlaw 70, A Kelly for Ford 71, C Hamilton for MacLeod 69.