Edinburgh defeated at home by 14-man Ulster in Guinness PRO12
Last Updated: 22/02/15 3:24pm
Ulster consolidated their top-four position in the Guinness PRO12 with a 20-17 victory at Edinburgh on Friday night.
A scrappy match will be largely remembered for the second-half dismissal of Ulster centre Stuart McCloskey by referee Leighton Hodges for a dangerous challenge on Hamish Watson at a ruck.
Edinburgh led 14-10 at the end of a forgettable first half thanks to an unconverted early try from Phil Burleigh and three penalties from Tom Heathcote, while Ruan Pienaar scored Ulster's try which he converted along with kicking a penalty.
An early penalty after the break by Pienaar was followed by a good try from centre Darren Cave which Pienaar converted, while Heathcote could only score one of a number of difficult penalties.
Ulster dominated the early exchanges but it was the home side who struck first, centre Burleigh going over in the corner after good work from flankers Roddy Grant and Watson.
Ulster immediately went back on the attack and an impressive move saw Ian Humphreys zigzag to the line, and Pienaar darted over for a try he then converted.
That bright opening then faded thanks largely to the number of penalties conceded by the Ulstermen, and Heathcote landed two of four attempts to give Edinburgh a four-point lead.
Pienaar and Heathcote swapped penalties late in the half, before the former closed the gap on 48 minutes with his third successful kick.
Four minutes later Ulster were ahead when centre Cave proved too cute for the Edinburgh defence, and his try was converted by Pienaar.
But Ulster played the final 21 minutes with 14 men after Hodges showed McCloskey a red card, and Heathcote kicked a three-pointer moments later.
Hodges sent Ulster lock Franco van der Merwe to the sin bin after conceding his side’s 19th penalty, but the visitors withstood some late lineout drives to clinch a narrow victory.
