Edinburgh 17-20 Ulster
THIRTEEN-MAN ULSTER held firm in the final minutes to leave Edinburgh with a valuable win.
Out-half Tom Heathcoate will rue a missed penalty 12 minutes from time that would have earned the hosts a draw.
Edinburgh had even better chances when Ulster, already depleted following a controversial red card for Stuart McCloskey, lost Franco van der Merwe to the sin bin for the final six minutes.
But Neil Doak’s side held firm to move level on points with the Glasgow Warriors at the top of the Pro12 table.
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Edinburgh took an early lead when centre Phil Burleigh went over in the corner after just eight minutes.
Ulster’s response through Ruan Pienaar was swift. The Springbok scrum-half converted his own try on 14 minutes, and kicked a penalty, but three penalties from Heathcoate left Edinburgh 14-10 ahead at the break.
Pienaar kicked a second penalty to close the gap to the bare minimum early in the second half before some superb work from Nick Williams left Darren Cave with the easiest of finishes.
McCloskey’s red, for dangerous play in clearing Hamish Watson out of a ruck, looked set to be crucial.
But while Heathcoate kicked his fourth of the night to make it a single-score game, Ulster were able to cling on.
