Paterson's boot strikes again
Sat, 29 Nov 2008 00:44
The second-placed Ospreys stumbled at Murrayfield as Andy Robinson's Edinburgh outfit pulled off their fourth win in five games against Welsh opposition, closing it out with two late kicks from Chris Paterson.
The Ospreys travelled without nine players due to their involvement in Saturday's Wales v Australia Test - the newly-crowned IRB World Player of the Year Shane Williams being one of them.
The Welsh region also currently have twelve players on their injury list, but with Jonathan Thomas, Sonny Parker, Cai Griffiths and Kristian Phillips back after spells on the sidelines and Tommy Bowe and Filo Tiatia both included, Sean Holley's matchday selection was still a very competitive one.
Edinburgh coach Andy Robinson gave fit-again flanker Ross Rennie his first competitive start of the new season, putting him for Scott Newlands.
That was the only change to the side that saw off Connacht 27-14 before the autumn international break, with nine players returning from Scotland duty.
Notably, Scotland winger Simon Webster was making his 100th appearance for the club since he joined from Northampton Saints in 2002.
In cold conditions, Edinburgh ended up comfortable enough winners on the scoreboard, but in truth the sides were a lot more evenly-matched.
With Edinburgh gelling quickly, as expected, they quickly hit the front. The Ospreys' rearguard gailed to deal with a grubber kick from Phil Godman and centre Nick De Luca charged up to finish off the try.
Full-back Chris Paterson, who enjoyed a productive evening with the boot, converted from the touchline and it was all kicks until tighthead prop Geoff Cross grabbed the game's second try, seven minutes before half-time.
Paterson and Ospreys fly-half Matthew Jarvis swapped penalty before the latter cut the gap to 10-6.
Godman increased his influence with a well-taken drop goal and another testing kick into space from the number 10 led to 22nd-minute penalty success for Paterson.
Edinburgh were laying the foundations for this win and doing it well, with their forwards gradually getting on top.
Jarvis missed an immediate chance to reply and with the Ospreys struggling for territory, Paterson punished them further with a pinpoint penalty for 19-6.
And Cross was able to muscle his way over for a try before the break. It came from a five-metre scrum which was held up inches from the line before the Edinburgh number 3 piled over.
Speaking after the game, Robinson acknowledged that his side 'just sat back' and 'didn't play at all in the second half.'
That proved to be the case as armed with a 26-6 half-time lead, errors began to creep into the Edinburgh game and with a half behind them, the Ospreys players started to click in their combinations.
A third Jarvis penalty settled the Ospreys on the restart and in the 56th minute, Jarvis sidestepped his way through the Scots' defence and a neat interchange between centre David Bishop and Nikki Walker resulted in an excellent try for the big Scotland winger.
Walker's effort was converted by Jarvis for a 26-16 score-line and with Cross sin-binned by Magners League debutant referee John Lacey for being offside at a ruck, it really was 'game on' for the final quarter.
Both sides unloaded their benches and in what was a scrappy finale, Edinburgh pulled through thanks to Paterson's 100% kicking return. He landed two more penalties after 69 and 76 minutes to hand the Ospreys their fourth straight away defeat in all competitions.
With thanks to www.magnerleague.com
Scorers:
For Edinburgh:
Tries: De Luca, Cross
Cons: Paterson 2
Pens: Paterson 5
Dg:
Godman
For Ospreys:
Try: Walker
Con: Jarvis
Pens: Jarvis 3
Yellow cards: Cross (62nd min)
Teams:
Edinburgh: 15 Chris Paterson, 14 Mark Robertson, 13 Ben Cairns, 12 Nick De Luca, 11 Simon Webster, 10 Phil Godman, 9 Mike Blair (captain), 8 Allister Hogg, 7 Ross Rennie, 6 Alan MacDonald, 5 Ben Gissing, 4 Craig Hamilton, 3 Geoff Cross, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Allan Jacobsen.
Replacements: 16 Andrew Kelly, 17 Gavin Kerr, 18 Matt Mustchin, 19 Scott Newlands, 20 Greig Laidlaw, 21 David Blair, 22 Hugo Southwell.
Ospreys: 15 Tommy Bowe, 14 Kristian Phillips, 13 David Bishop, 12 Sonny Parker, 11 Nikki Walker, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Rhys Webb, 8 Tom Smith, 7 Marty Holah, 6 Steve Tandy, 5 Lyndon Bateman, 4 Filo Tiatia, 3 Craig Mitchell, 2 Ed Shervington, 1 Paul James (captain).
Replacements: 16 Marc Breeze, 17 Cai Griffiths, 18 Ryan Bevington, 19 Mike Collins, 20 Jonathan Thomas, 21 Rhodri Wells, 22 Ashley Beck.
Referee: John Lacey (Ireland)
Touch judges: David Changleng (Scotland), Bob Nevins (Scotland)
