Edinburgh avenge their early season defeat by Ulster
Edinburgh beat Ulster 21-16 in their Magners League match at Hampden Park on Friday 22 October.
Fraser McKenzie and Netani Talei scored the all important tries for the home side as they held off Ulster after Ian Whitten had scored a try of his own for the visitors.
Ulster started the game well and could have taken the lead had Paddy Wallace converted an early penalty opportunity.
Instead, it was the Scottish side who opened the scoring. McKenzie scored the opening try of the game after the forward forced his way over the line, despite the attention of two Ulster defenders.
The usually flawless, Chris Paterson missed the difficult conversion from the wing.
Ulster replied through Wallace, and the out-half made no mistake with his second attempt to reduce the deficit to 5-3.
Heavy rain caused a number of unforced errors as both sides tried to cope with the conditions, but Paterson took advantage of a penalty to regain the Scottish side’s five-point lead.
However, Ulster managed to fight back and Whitten finished off a fine try after Ulster put together the best move of the match.
Ulster went through a number of phases before the ball was whipped out to the left wing, and the centre crossed the try line in a great move.
Ulster took the lead with Wallace’s 29th minute conversion to make the score 10-8 to the away side.
The Irish province extended their lead in the second half as Wallace added another penalty after an unnecessary infringement by Edinburgh.
A moment of magic by Talei brought Edinburgh right back into the match. The back row forward’s charging run eventually came to an end after he was hauled down a metre from the line by a scrambling Ulster defence.
The forward managed to recycle the ball and finish off the move by powering over the line. Paterson added the two points with the conversion.
Paterson added another penalty to make it 18-13 in a tightly fought contest. The Scottish international then proved why he has become one of the most prolific scorers in world rugby.
Ulster was penalised 40 metres out on the left wing and Paterson opted to shoot at goal. The kick went straight between the posts to secure the win for Edinburgh.
Wallace replied with a late penalty of his own to give the home side a nervy few minutes, but Edinburgh clung on to run out 21-16 winners and avenge their early season defeat.
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