Edinburgh's season 2010/11 Heineken Cup campaign began with an agonising defeat to Cardiff Blues at the Cardiff City Stadium on Saturday night.
Rob Moffat's team have the consolation of coming away with a bonus point, but for long spells they were well-placed to secure what would have been an historic European victory on the road, a gutsy effort from the pack and several instances of invention from those behind the scrum ensuring this Pool 1 opener went right down to the wire.
Despite the result, the capital club have a solid platform to build on ahead of next Saturday's mouthwatering home tie against Northampton Saints. The Murrayfield battle with the English giants kicks off at 1.30pm, and tickets are available HERE or by calling 0131 346 5180
The Cardiff clash began at a rollicking pace which never quite abated. The intensity of European rugby's premier competition has never been in doubt, but if anyone required a gentle reminder, it was there in the string of ferociously contested scrums with which the match began.
Edinburgh laid a confident early marker in the set piece, winning first a free-kick then a penalty which Chris Paterson duly knocked over for the first points of the evening.
Dan Parks, his fellow Scotland kicker, passed up the opportunity to instantly cancel out the advantage, missing with a penalty from a position out on the right. Parks was similarly errant with a second kick from just shy of the half-way line, and proceeded shortly after to miss a third after Edinburgh hands were spied in the ruck.
Despite the concession of these penalties, the visitors were far from under the cosh. When they secured quick ruck ball, they looked dangerous, attacking Cardiff with vigour and moving the point of attack. Alex Grove, Jim Thompson, Roddy Grant and Mike Blair were particularly prominent during a spell of pressure that saw Edinburgh put the frighteners on a previously buoyant home team and crowd.
Due reward for this dominance arrived when Allan Jacobsen, provider of the match-turning late score against Aironi a week ago, crossed again for a try that brought cries of delight from the small but vocal travelling support. The touchdown had its origins in a Cardiff lineout on the Edinburgh left, the ball eluding a cluster of grasping hands and making it all the way through to Blair.
The visiting scrum-half made further crucial yards before ceding to Jacobsen, who always looked to have the momentum to bundle himself across the line, even if the TMO was required to validate the score. Paterson landed a straightforward conversion to give Edinburgh a 10-0 lead.
The Blues got themselves on the scoreboard in the 28th minute, Parks finding his range after Paterson was penalised at a ruck and ordered to the sin-bin.
Edinburgh's subsequent numerical inferiority inevitably affected the flow of the game in the remainder of the second quarter. The side from the Scottish capital defended with impressive vigilance as Cardiff pressed down the right, but when the ball was worked back towards the other side, the busy Casey Laulala managed to find space before passing left to Paul Tito.
The home skipper had the simple task of drawing the remainding Edinburgh defender and playing in Chris Czekaj for a score that Parks duly converted. The fly-half then knocked over a penalty to give the Blues a 13-10 lead by the time Paterson returned to the fray.
HALF-TIME CARDIFF BLUES 13 EDINBURGH 10
Edinburgh made a positive start to the second period, enjoying some good possession and territory without directly threatening the Cardiff line. The visitors were forced into a change when Ross Rennie, the openside flanker, left the field with a blood injury, Netani Talei coming on in his stead. Rennie return to the field in the 52nd minute.
Shortly after the hour, Edinburgh had clear sight of the Cardiff line as Parks saw a midfield pass bounce unluckily off a teammate then lost his footing, allowing David Blair to hack ahead and gather tantalisingly close to the whitewash. Possession was shuttled on to Geoff Cross, but the tight-head, who had covered considerable ground to offer support, couldn't quite hold on to the ball.
Edinburgh kept probing, a multi-phase move that shuffled from right to left seeing them inch ever close to their target. Cardiff held firm, however, and play soon swung to the other end, where Xavier Rush and Laulala combined smartly to put the outside centre over.
The drama was far from finished. A brilliant feint from David Blair foxed the Cardiff defence, and while the stand-off was pulled up just short, Edinburgh had the scent of blood in their nostrils and were not to be denied. The ball was worked swiftly right, where Ben Cairns went over in the corner. Chris Paterson's conversion cut Cardiff's lead to a single point (18-17), with seven minutes still to play.
Despite Edinburgh's best efforts to get the game back in Cardiff territory, there were to be no further twists in the tale. An agonising defeat, but a creditable performance.
FULL TIME CARDIFF BLUES 18 EDINBURGH 17
CARDIFF BLUES: Ben Blair; Leigh Halfpenny, Casey Laulala, Tom Shanklin, Chris Czekaj; Dan Parks, Richie Rees; Gethin Jenkins, T Rhys Thomas, Taufa'au Filise, Bradley Davies, Paul Tito (captain), Maama Molitika, Martyn Williams, Xavier Rush
Replacements: Rhys Williams, John Yapp, Scott Andrews, Deiniol Jones, Sam Warburton, Lloyd Williams, Ceri Sweeney, Dafydd Hewitt
EDINBURGH: Chris Paterson; Jim Thompson, Ben Cairns, Alex Grove, Tim Visser; David Blair, Mike Blair; Allan Jacobsen, Ross Ford, Geoff Cross, Scott MacLeod, Fraser McKenzie, Alan MacDonald, Ross Rennie, Roddy Grant (captain)
Replacements: Andrew Kelly, Kyle Traynor, David Young, Craig Hamilton, Netani Talei, Greig Laidlaw, James King, Mark Robertson
REF: R Poite (FFR)
