Cooney’s Haul Is Not Enough As Edinburgh Strike Late Against Ulster

John Cooney’s 16 points were not enough for Ulster tonight as Duncan Weir’s last-gasp drop goal gave Edinburgh a 17-16 victory which elevates them above the province in the GUINNESS PRO14 Conference B table.

The defeat, while not necessarily catastrophic at this stage, drastically increases the pressure on Jono Gibbes’ men as the business end of the season approaches, with six matches left to secure a PRO14 play-off berth.

Both Edinburgh and Ulster now sit on 46 points, with Richard Cockerill’s side currently ahead of Ulster courtesy of their marginally superior scoring difference.

Tommy Bowe’s speedy recovery from injury brought the experienced winger straight back into the starting XV as one of four changes from last Friday’s runaway win over the Southern Kings. Louis Ludik, Jean Deysel and Rob Herring also returned to the line-up.

Ludik featured at full-back behind a back-line of Craig Gilroy, Luke Marshall, Stuart McCloskey and Bowe, while Johnny McPhillips and John Cooney teamed again as the starting half-back.

Up front, Andrew Warwick and Wiehahn Herbst propped either side of Herring, with captain Alan O’Connor and Kieran Treadwell continuing alongside each other in the second row, and flankers Matthew Rea and Nick Timoney making up the back row along with Deysel.

Unfortunately Gilroy had little chance to make an impression similar to that of his hat-trick performance against the South Africans, picking up a knock within the first few minutes and making way for David Busby.

The early change did little to upset Ulster, however, with Cooney touching down for a try in the eighth minute, after Ludik and Timoney had combined at pace down the right wing.

Edinburgh battled well to force their way straight back into the game, Fijian Bill Mata coming perilously close to grounding by the left corner flag but just veering out of play under the tackle, before the same player knocked on directly under the posts just before the half hour mark.

Winger Jason Harries made no such mistake around six minutes before the break, latching onto Sam Hidalgo-Clyne’s kick to the corner as Edinburgh effortlessly turned defence into attack from a scrum on their own 22 and squared things up at seven points apiece.

A second try for the visitors almost came in the dying seconds of the first half, but they were kept at bay only by a combination of stubborn Ulster defence right on the try-line as the Edinburgh forwards recycled a dozen times, and a fantastic ball-spilling tackle by Marshall on Jaco van der Walt once the attack changed tack and the ball spread to the backs.

Cooney, who moved to out-half after Jonny Stewart had replaced the injured McPhillips, opened the second period with a well-struck penalty from distance, and once a protracted spell of Edinburgh pressure came to naught through an untidy knock-on, he added another long range effort to stretch the lead to six points – 13-7.

However, the province’s advantage soon evaporated as lock Lewis Carmichael bludgeoned his way through an exposed Ulster defence just after the hour mark for a somewhat soft try, van der Walt’s conversion edging the Scots a point ahead.

Cooney’s third successful penalty of the night swung the scoreboard back in Ulster’s favour on 66 minutes, and after soaking up 10 minutes of inevitable Edinburgh pressure, two successive penalties got play deep in the visitors’ half.

Ulster hovered close to the opposition 22 for several minutes, but not long enough as the concession of a penalty for holding on too long in the tackle gave Edinburgh a final chance – and replacement out-half Duncan Weir took full advantage with his decisive drop goal past the 80-minute mark.