A last minute Phil Godman drop-goal secured a losing-point for Edinburgh Rugby at the home of their inter-city rivals, Glasgow Warriors, in front of a capacity Firhill crowd tonight (17-12).
With the Murrayfield leg of the 1872 Cup left on a 23-23 knife-edge, the permutations of another draw were being mooted with 20 minutes to go as the second leg sat at 9-9 – opposing stand-offs Duncan Weir and Phil Godman exchanging the penalties.
However, with ten minutes to go, Glasgow prop Moray Low exploited the man-advantage which followed a Matt Scott sin-bin to take the lead.
Replacement stand-off Scott Wight missed the conversion but struck a penalty moments later to give the hosts the breathing space they craved as the tension mounted.
In spite of the imposed overlap, Edinburgh rallied and winger Lee Jones came close to squeezing across at the far-side corner flag but the TMO confirmed that it was no try.
Then, with the visitors back to a full complement, they pushed hard for a score with minutes to go, ultimately creating enough room for Godman to slot a drop-goal in the last play of the game to secure the losing bonus point.
Edinburgh Rugby head coach Michael Bradley said: “It was a fantastic performance from our players tonight. We had good territory and possession, and saw an improvement in our work at the breakdown from last week.
“I’m very happy with the players' attitude and application. We created a lot of opportunities but I’m disappointed we didn’t get the win here tonight."
Bradley made 13 changes to the team that faced Glasgow at Murrayfield and the head coach was delighted with the performance and commitment shown by the players brought in.
“The bigger picture is that these derby matches have presented a number of our players with the opportunity to perform in a high intensity encounter ahead of a big month for us. They have been very tight matches, very tense with a lot of anticipation and our players will benefit from playing this environment.
“With this many players getting this level of exposure, we now look forward to a series of crucial matches in the RaboDirect PRO12 and Heineken Cup, starting at home against Ulster this Friday.”
Edinburgh Rugby now look ahead a massive month for the capital club which sees the boys in black and red host Ulster this Friday followed by the final two Pool matches in the Heinken Cup away to Racing Metro and at home to London Irish >> Click here to buy tickets for Edinburgh Rugby v Ulster
Weir drew first blood for Glasgow after just two minutes with a long-range penalty.
Weir and Godman then traded missed attempts before Glasgow’s mounting pressure translated into a well-weighted cross-field kick however giant lock and captain Al Kellock was out jumped by the sprightly Lee Jones to hault the attack.
The stand-offs got their accuracy back with a penalty a piece but it was the Warriors who went into the break further ahead as Weir kicked his third penalty of the game to make it 9-3.
HALF TIME: Glasgow Warriors 9-3 Edinburgh Rugby
In a much improved second-half, Edinburgh Rugby struck first through another Godman penalty but he missed the chance to equalise soon after.
However, he did get put away another chance in the 58th minute before the visitors were dealt what was ultimately the killer blow.
Centre Matt Scott was sent to the sin bin for what was adjudged to be a dangerous tackle on lock Robert Harley, with Low credited with a forward rumble try almost immediately afterwards.
Replacement stand-off Scott Wight missed the conversion but he slotted a penalty two minutes later in the 71st minute to make it 17-9 which it remained right up until the death when Edinburgh rallied enough for Godman to kick a last-minute drop goal for a losing bonus point.
Edinburgh Rugby now look ahead a massive month for the capital club which sees the boys in black and red host Ulster this Friday followed by the final two Pool matches in the Heinken Cup away to Racing Metro and at home to London Irish >> Click here to buy tickets for Edinburgh Rugby v Ulster
GLASGOW WARRIORS: 15 Peter Murchie; 14 David Lemi, 13 Stuart Hogg, 12 Graeme Morrison, 11 Colin Shaw; 10 Duncan Weir, 9 Chris Cusiter; 1 Jon Welsh, 2 Dougie Hall, 3 Moray Low, 4 Richie Gray, 5 Al Kellock CAPTAIN, 6 Rob Harley, 7 Chris Fusaro, 8 Ryan Wilson
Substitutes: 16 Pat MacArthur, 17 Mike Cusack, 18 Ed Kalman, 19 Tom Ryder, 20 John Barclay, 21 Henry Pyrgos, 22 Troy Nathan, 23 Scott Wight
EDINBURGH RUGBY: 15 Jim Thompson; 14 Simon Webster, 13 Matt Scott, 12 John Houston, 11 Lee Jones; 10 Phil Godman CAPTAIN, 9 Mike Blair; 1 Kyle Traynor, 2 Andrew Kelly, 3 Jack Gilding, 4 Grant Gilchrist, 5 Steven Turnbull, 6 David Denton, 7 Alan MacDonald, 8 Stuart McInally
Substitutes: 16 Alun Walker on for Kelly (34’), 17 Robin Hislop on for Traynor (72’), 18 Lewis Niven on for Niven (68’), 19 Netani Talei on for Turnbull (72’), 20 Ross Rennie on for McInally (72’), 21 Alex Black on for Blair (72’), 22 Harry Leonard, 23 James King
Referee: Peter Allan (SRU)
Attendance: 8,852 (sold out by 9.30am on match-day)
