Guinness PRO12: Ulster 14-7 Edinburgh
Last Updated: 06/12/15 5:59pm
Ulster fought off a second-half surge from Edinburgh to earn a 14-7 win in front of their home fans on Friday night.
Ulster were the better of the two sides, but the scoreline perhaps didn't quite indicate their dominance. The win is Ulster's fifth of the competition, and moves them up to fifth in the Guinness PRO12 standings.
Two tries in the first quarter put the Ulstermen in front to the tune of 14 points, but in the 69 minutes that followed they were unable to add to their account as they were forced to defend their slender lead with Edinburgh fighting their way back into the game.
The visitors scored one try of their own in the second half, but were unable to build on it as a stern Ulster defence and some mistakes with ball in hand kept them at bay.
It was a poor start for Edinburgh when a lineout 10 metres out from the opposition line ended with Ruan Pienaar darting for the corner. He was stopped by Mike Coman, but the flanker was deemed to have made the tackle from an offside position, which led to a penalty try but no yellow card for the Edinburgh man.
A training-ground move brought about the second try for the Ulstermen, with Louis Ludik breaking through the midfield on the switch and popping to Rory Scholes in the tackle. Scholes changed his angle brilliantly to ghost over the line for a 14-point lead to the home side with just 11 minutes on the clock.
Ulster continued to cause havoc inside the Edinburgh half throughout the remainder of the half, but they were unable to make any further impressions on the scoreboard as they took the 14-0 lead into the break.
Edinburgh hit back in the second half through a superbly soft kick into the in-goal area by Phil Burleigh, who found No 8 Cornell Du Preez to bring the visitors to within a score following the conversion.
What followed was two sides cancelling out each other's attack as neither was able to break the line for the score.
Ulster held out for the win when replacement Edinburgh scrum-half Nathan Fowles sent a kick into touch on the full to give the home side the territory and possession to close out the final minute of the game.
