Edinburgh's first home Heineken Cup match of the 2010/11 competition saw an enthralling, end-to-end contest against Northampton Saints at Murrayfield and a denoument similar to that witnessed in Cardiff last weekend as the capital club were forced to settle for a losing bonus point from a pulsating affair.
It will strike Rob Moffat and his men as poor reward for their contribution to a cracking occasion in front of a lively Murrayfield crowd. During the first half in particular, the home side were in buoyant, defiant form, scoring three outstanding tries and seriously unnerving their Premiership opponents.
It wasn't to be, however, and Edinburgh must now focus their energies on Friday's Magners League visit from Ulster (Murrayfield Stadium, kick-off 7.05pm).
Their day started with two late changes to the match-day 23. Openside flanker Ross Rennie, who sustained a blow to the head against the Blues last Saturday, did not pass the CogSport test used to assess readiness to play, and was replaced in the back row by Netani Talei.
The Fijian lined up at No8, with captain Roddy Grant moving to openside. David Denton came in on the bench.
The other change to the 23 saw Mark Robertson, who was suffering from a heavy cold, replaced by David Bishop on the replacements bench.
Edinburgh made a positive start to the game, Grant and Geoff Cross punching holes in the Northampton defence and drawing an early penalty that Chris Paterson confidently swung over the posts from out on the left.
The Saints pack has earned plenty plaudits of late and they hit back back with an immediate demonstration of this prowess, captain Dylan Hartley driven over from close range after a five-metre lineout on the Northampton left. Stephen Myler added the extras.
Not to be outdone by his fellow member of the front row union, try-machine Allan Jacobsen straight away came up with his third score in as many games to get the Edinburgh fans on their feet. Talei made an impressive dent to get things moving, he move was taken on by the Blairs David and Mike before the latter popped the ball to Jacobsen, who negotiated the last three Saints defenders with an impressive step before touching down.
The score prompted cries of "are you Visser in disguise?" from the home fans, a reference to Jacobsen's recent prolific output.
Paterson knocked over the conversion to put Edinburgh 10-7 up, and the hosts were soon on the charge again as a slick midfield combination between James King and Ben Cairns had the latter charging into space and passing right to Mike Blair, who couldn't quite hold onto the ball.
The game was swinging from end to end at this stage, Northampton keen to play through their forwards and Edinburgh looking for quick ball.
Myler levelled up the scoreline with a 21st-minute penalty, but Edinburgh soon hit back with a quite sensational score that involved patience, precision and no little skill.
Talei started and finished the move, powering into space and releasing David Blair for a burst through the middle. The stand-off swung possession right to his brother, before the point of attack was moved back left via Fraser McKenzie. A brilliant one-handed offload from Scott MacLeod to his second row partner injected fresh life into the attack, and when David Blair looked right he saw Talei charging up on his shoulder to round things off in the corner.
Paterson's conversion gave Edinburgh a seven-point lead which, despite a further Myler penalty, soon became 11 courtesy of another fantastic try. McKenzie again did brilliantly, showing quick hands to keep the ball alive for Paterson to service Alan MacDonald close to the same spot where Talei touched down.
The Fijian's fellow back-rower demonstrated a keen awareness of what was happening around him to spot Cairns hitting a tremendous line that took the centre to his second score in as many Heineken Cup games. Paterson duly converted to make it Edinburgh 24 Northampton 13.
The inspirational nature of Edinburgh's first half performance ensured that Murrayfield crackled with positive energy, even if Myler did knock over his third penalty to dampen things momentarily.
Just before half-time, the Saints struck with a try of their own to set up an intriguing second period. Inside centre James Downey exploited a lack of cover on the right side of the Edinburgh defence to go over in the corner despite Jim Thompson's best efforts to halt him at the last.
HALF-TIME: EDINBURGH 24 NORTHAMPTON SAINTS 21
The first post-interval points arrived in the 47th minute when Paterson knocked over a penalty after the Saints were penalised for side entry at a ruck.
The visitors quickly sharpened up their act and proceeded to put the Edinburgh defence under intense pressure, an examination that concluded with Paul Diggin going over in the left corner moments after fellow wing Chris Ashton lost control of the ball trying to touch it down under pressure from home skipper Grant.
Myler's conversion to the Diggin score nudged Northampton a point ahead. There was less fluidity, less invention to the contest at this stage, and from an Edinburgh perspective, less momentum. After the home side were penalised for not rolling away, Myler took Northampton's slender lead to four points with a penalty.
Edinburgh sought to take the game to the Saints through their forwards, and fresh front-five blood was injected in the form of Kyle Traynor, Andrew Kelly, David Young and Craig Hamilton.
The previously plentiful supply of quick ball for the backs was still not as forthcoming, but Talei again showcased his ability with ball in hand, producing a bullocking run on the right that might have ended in a score had the former Worcester man not run out of touchline while seeking to offload back inside.
Talei was named Heineken man-of-the-match, a silver lining to an otherwise desperately disappointing finale for Edinburgh.
FULL TIME: EDINBURGH 27 NORTHAMPTON SAINTS 31
EDINBURGH: Chris Paterson; Jim Thompson, Ben Cairns, James King, Tim Visser; David Blair, Mike Blair; Allan Jacobsen, Ross Ford, Geoff Cross, Scott MacLeod, Fraser McKenzie, Alan MacDonald, Roddy Grant (c), Netani Talei
Replacements: Andrew Kelly, Kyle Traynor, David Young, Craig Hamilton, David Denton, Greig Laidlaw, Alex Grove, David Bishop
NORTHAMPTON SAINTS: Greig Tonks; Chris Ashton, Jon Clarke, James Downey, Paul Diggin; Stephen Myler, Lee Dickson; Soane Tonga'uiha, Dylan Hartley, Brian Mujati, Courtney Lawes, Christian Day, Phil Dowson, Tom Wood, Roger Wilson
Replacements: Brett Sharman, Regardt Dreyer, Euan Murray, Mark Sorenson, Calum Clark, Ryan Powell, Shane Geraghty, Joe Ansbro
REF: Jerome Garces (FFR)
MAN OF THE MATCH: Netani Talei (Edinburgh)
ATTENDANCE: 4,905
