Edinburgh 16-10 Ulster: Scottish side still unbeaten in Pro12
Last Updated: 17/10/15 2:42pm
Edinburgh made it four wins from four games in the Pro12 this season with a hard-fought 16-10 success at home to Ulster.
Penalties were the order of the day in a tight first half and the hosts led 6-3 at the interval, Greig Tonks having kicked a pair of three-pointers to just the one from Peter Nelson for Ulster.
Edinburgh had been forced into two late changes with prop Allan Dell stepping up from the bench to replace Rory Sutherland Andress and Murdo McAndrew taking the place of Sean Kennedy among the substitutes, while Paul Marshall was given the honour of leading out Ulster on his 150th appearance.
The Scots opened the scoring after four minutes when Tonks booted a penalty from the Ulster 10 metre line.
That proved to be catalyst for the home side to enjoy a spell in the ascendancy and they doubled their tally in the 18th minute when Tonks was again on target with a penalty.
Ulster's first assault on the home line almost produced a try but the referee brought play back for an offence at a maul and Nelson steered the kick between the sticks to cut the deficit in half.
Attacks at both ends came close to breaking through, but neither side managed to add to their points tally and the hosts went in at half-time with a slender three point advantage.
However, Ulster scored the first try of the match five minutes after the break when Nick Williams did brilliantly to win the ball deep inside the Edinburgh half, Louis Ludik was stopped just short when the ball was moved right, and flanker Sean Reidy crashed over from close range.
But Edinburgh responded with a fantastic try 10 minutes later, made by replacement Will Helu, who broke a tackle as he powered down the left before releasing Nasi Manu, and the No 8 then popped the ball back inside to man of the match Hamish Watson, who powered on to score.
That made it 13-10 to the hosts and they extended their advantage when Tonks kicked another penalty with 15 minutes left.
Ulster enjoyed some late pressure and tried to drive over from a line-out close to the Edinburgh line but the home defence remained resolute and the hosts held on to remain level on points with leaders Scarlets, while Ulster were left with only a narrow defeat bonus point for their efforts.
