EDINBURGH halted Ulster's promising revival last night and ensured there was to be no sweet return to Murrayfield for former Scotland coach Matt Williams with a comfortable if unspectacular victory.
The home side made a great start to the match, racing into a ten point lead within six minutes in a fashion that hinted at an exhilarating game and a bonus-point win for the hosts. It was the perfect response to last week's deflating defeat at Glasgo
w, but once safely ahead 21-12 in the second half, Edinburgh stepped off the pace, let their set-piece slip, rattled the turnover count into the 20s and, with Ulster no better, the game fizzled out into a dull, lifeless affair.
Edinburgh effectively won it inside the first quarter with 18 points. Jim Hamilton launched the momentum by claiming Phil Godman's first kick-off and the hosts maintained the pressure until winning a penalty inside two minutes, which Godman duly goaled.
In the sixth minute, a quick lineout on the left just outside the home 22 saw ball fired across the park to Andrew Turnbull, and the winger marked his first start of the season with a scintillating break, darting past Paddy Wallace and streaking 60 metres, across halfway and deep into the Ulster half.
Had he managed to get the ball away to the supporting John Houston when collared by two defenders, a try would have been scored then, but Edinburgh were patient, recycled the ball well and good hands and text-book drawing of defenders created the space for Allister Hogg to release Southwell into space on the left, and the full-back sprinted in for the try. Godman curled his conversion in from the touchline, with the help of the right-hand post.
Ian Humphreys, the Ulster stand-off, claimed three points from a penalty, but Edinburgh roared back with a second try. Mike Blair's box-kick was messed up by Mark McCrea, the Ulster right wing, Houston pounced and flipped the ball up to Roddy Grant, the debutant flanker, who drove at the scrambling defenders.
Grant was held up, but Jim Hamilton picked up at the base of the ruck and dived into the left-hand corner.
Humphreys pulled another three points back on the 20-minute mark, Grant being adjudged to have caught him late after a high kick, though the Ulster stand-off was helped by the referee Gwyn Morris moving the penalty a good seven metres forward from where the ball alighted.
The hosts returned to the front foot, keenly aware no doubt of Ulster's recent ability to score from very little, and even when not in possession kept Ulster penned in their own 22. However, from a position attacking the Ulster 22, two penalties cost them the ball, 50 metres and three points, as Humphreys converted his third penalty, from over 40 metres.
That score enlivened Ulster, but the hosts' defence was sound and they should have scored again after some terrific counter-attacking by Blair and Southwell, but the last pass went a-begging 15 metres from the Ulster line.
With Hamilton dominating the lineout and Southwell taking the game to Ulster at every opportunity, the hosts were in the mood for another score before half-time. They were fortunate when a knock-on at the lineout stopped Ulster from exploiting a stray ball, but a steal at the scrum and searing attacking talent of Blair had them careering back into the Ulster half as the first half neared its end.
Again, a penalty cost them the territory, but good defensive work by Webster and man-of-the-match Simon Cross continued to blunt Ulster's attack.
The third quarter was a tousy, stuttering affair with errors curtailing bouts of promise. A penalty against Craig Hamilton, for not rolling away, allowed Humphreys to close the gap to just six points.
With Andy Robinson, the Edinburgh head coach, screaming at his side from the stands to hold onto the ball, a sentiment shared by the home support, it became a job for the hosts just to get their hands on it. The fizz of their first half attack and defence was missing, but Blair steadily began to provide the captain's lead, prodding with darting runs and grubber kicks.
A break by Webster took the hosts into the Ulster 22 in the 56th minute, for the first time in the second half, and it brought an instant reward in the shape of another Godman penalty. Edinburgh began to dominate possession, but, still, there was a scrappiness about their attack.
Ulster, similarly, struggled to take their play beyond two phases, and the coaches reacted, Robinson swapping Ben Cairns with Nick De Luca and Williams sending on veteran flanker Kieron Dawson for youngster David Pollock. Edinburgh took off their two big forward units, Jim Hamilton and Ross Ford, and No8 Allister Hogg, for the last 15 minutes, and almost inevitably that added to the stultifying nature of the game.
David Blair replaced Godman, whose kicking had started to go awry, and amidst the flurry of bench activity there was a hint of some rugby when the stand-off released Webster through the Ulster defence, but the pass had been forward and the brief excitement evaporated.
The only remaining point of note was a final penalty from Paddy Wallace, which at least gave Ulster a bonus point, but it failed to affect a workmanlike win for Edinburgh.
Scorers: Edinburgh: Tries: Southwell, J Hamilton. Pens: Godman 3. Con: Godman. Ulster: Pens: Humphreys 4, Wallace.
Edinburgh: H Southwell; A Turnbull, B Cairns, J Houston, S Webster; P Godman, M Blair (capt); A Jacobsen, R Ford, G Cross, C Hamilton, J Hamilton, S Cross, A Hogg, R Grant. Subs: G Kerr for Cross 54mins, N De Luca for Cairns 62, B Gissing for J Hamilton, S Newlands for Hogg, A Kelly for Ford, all 65, D Blair for Godman 67.
Ulster: C Schifcofske; M McCrea, D Cave, P Wallace, A Trimble; I Humphreys, I Boss; T Court, R Best (capt), BJ Botha, E O'Donoghue, M McCullough, Subs: F Paulo for Diack 32mins, J Fitzpatrick for Court 52, B Cunningham for Cave 66, N Brady for Best 68, P Steinmetz for Humphreys 69, P Marshall for Boss 72. The full article contains 1056 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
