Edinburgh recorded their third straight Magners League win after a tense, taut but ultimately uplifting scrap with Ulster at Murrayfield on Friday night.
Rob Moffat's side fought every inch of the way to come out on top in a far from fluid but always absorbing affair. Tries from Fraser McKenzie (his first for the club) and Netani Talei (his second in as many games) saw them home and sent them into next week's away tie against Leinster in fine fettle.
It was a win over the Dublin outfit that started Edinburgh's positive sequence of recent results, and Friday's success was as satisfying as any that had gone before.
The game started at a fair old lick, the teams trading breakdown penalties within the first five minutes. Paddy Wallace missed for Ulster, while Edinburgh kicked theirs to touch and immediately launched a slick backs move from the resulting lineout, Ben Cairns taking the ball into contact with intent.
The home side maintained this positive opening and soon landed the first score of the evening. McKenzie, maintaining his fantastic form from the Northampton game last weekend, powered his way through the last line of Ulster defence after Edinburgh attacked the short side, first through a maul, then with scrum-half Greig Laidlaw sniping effectively to set up his second row colleague.
Chris Paterson missed a difficult conversion, but the momentum was with Edinburgh until Ulster wing David McIlwaine launched a delightful stepping run through the middle. The hosts scrambled well, but were penalised for not rolling away. Wallace was more accurate this time, getting Ulster on the scoreboard.
The game took on a rather scrappy quality thereafter, the potential for fluid play not helped by the increasingly wet conditions. It was vital that Edinburgh took the scoring opportunities as and when they came, and there was acclaim from all corners of the west stand when Paterson knocked over a penalty to put the home side 8-3 up.
Ulster kept coming, however, and it took a fantastic tackle from Geoff Cross to deny Andrew Trimble as the Ireland star, fielded at outside centre, carved his way through on a mesmerising run. The Belfast outfit then worked the opposite side, where a lovely ball inside saw Trimble's fellow midfielder Ian Whitten crossing the Edinburgh line. Wallace converted, and Ulster proceeded to enjoy a spell of pressure before the half-time whistle.
HALF-TIME: EDINBURGH 8 ULSTER 10
Edinburgh varied their tactics at the start of the second period, seeking to utilise the pick-and-go, but found themselves pinged for going to ground. Wallace's penalty put Ulster five points ahead.
Straight away, in another reprisal of the bright spots from the Northampton game, Talei embarked on a bullocking run from deep that allowed Edinburgh to pose a stern examination of the close-quarters Ulster defence down in the right-hand corner.
It was fitting that, having started the move, Talei was again the man to finish it, driving across for his second try in as many games. Paterson's conversion saw the scoreline swing in Edinburgh's favour once more.
The rest of the third quarter fare won't necessarily have been savoured by the purists, but there was still much to intrigue as the respective front fives sounded each other out. Edinburgh refused to take a backwards step in this regard, and clearly recognised the importance of maintaining their discipline with the game so finely poised.
The same could not be said for Ulster in the 62nd minute, as they killed the ball right in front of referee James Jones to provide Paterson with an enviable penalty opportunity which the captain duly took.
The full-back soon got another chance, Ulster pinged for bringing down the scrum. From the visitors' 10m line, to the left of centre, the full-back saw his effort drift agonisingly to the right of the posts.
The game immediately tightened up again, Ian Humphreys, the Ulster replacement, landing a penalty from out right to bring the score to 18-16 in Edinburgh's favour. David Blair then came up with a vital intervention, retreating intelligently into the pocket to swing over a 40m drop goal that gave the hosts vital fresh breathing space.
It was enough to see them home, to the acclaim of a drenched but delighted home crowd.
FULL TIME: EDINBURGH 21 ULSTER 16
EDINBURGH: Chris Paterson (captain); Jim Thompson, Ben Cairns, James King, Tim Visser; David Blair, Greig Laidlaw; Allan Jacobsen, Andrew Kelly, Geoff Cross, Scott MacLeod, Fraser McKenzie, Alan MacDonald, Ross Rennie, Netani Talei
Replacements: Finlay Gillies, Kyle Traynor, David Young, Grant Gilchrist, Scott Newlands, Mike Blair, Alex Grove, Mark Robertson
ULSTER: Adam D'Arcy; Mark McCrea, Andrew Trimble, Ian Whitten, David McIlwaine; Paddy Wallace, Ruan Pienaar; Paddy McAllister, Rory Best (captain), BJ Botha, Johann Muller, Dan Tuohy, Stephen Ferris, chris Henry, Robbie Diack
Replacements: Andi Kyriacou, Tom Court, Bryan Young, Ryan Caldwell, Pedrie Wannenburg, Paul Marshall, Ian Humphreys, Nevin Spence
Referee: James Jones (WRU)
MAGNERS MAN OF THE MATCH: Netani Talei (Edinburgh)
Att: 3,195
