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Weir drops in for late winner

John Cooney and Jason Harries exchanged tries in the opening half before two penalties for the Ulster scrumhalf put them 13-7 ahead.

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Lewis Carmichael went over for the visitors on 63 minutes but another three points for Cooney had Ulster back in front.

But with the clock ticking past the 80-minute mark Weir held his nerve to snatch victory with the final kick of the game.

Ulster opened the scoring as Nick Timoney capitalises on an overlap with an outside break before offloading to Louis Ludik who fed Cooney to run through and dot down under the posts.

Bill Mata twice went close as Edinburgh fought to get back in the game, the flanker was on the end of a training ground move at the line-out but was forced into touch as he went for the line.

And the Fijian was millimetres away just minutes later as he burst towards the line from close range only to fumble the ball as he reached for the whitewash.

Referee Nigel Owens consulted with the TMO before awarding Ulster the scrum for the knock on but Edinburgh would be level at the break.

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From a scrum inside their own half, Sam Hidalgo-Clyne spotted a gap to race clear and put in an inch-perfect grubber for Harries to dive onto for Edinburgh’s first try.

Hidalgo-Clyne successfully converted the try he had made as the sides went into half-time at 7-7.

Cooney restored Ulster’s advantage as he was on target with an early penalty in the second half as Edinburgh were penalised for being offside.

And the scrum-half made no mistake soon after with a further three points to give Ulster a six-point cushion heading into the final 20 minutes.

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Carmichael then cut an excellent line and took a lovely inside ball from Fraser McKenzie for Edinburgh’s second score to put the visitors ahead for the first time in the match.

Scrumhalf Cooney’s third penalty had Ulster back ahead on 67 minutes.

Edinburgh were held up over the tryline in the final minute but after just one phase at the resulting scrum, the ball was sent back to Weir who calmly slotted the winning drop goal.

The scorers:

For Ulster:

Try: Cooney

Cons: Cooney

Pens: Cooney 3

For Edinburgh:

Tries: Harries, Carmichael

Cons: Hidalgo-Clyne 2

DG: Weir

Teams:

Ulster: 15 Louis Ludik, 14 Craig Gilroy, 13 Luke Marshall, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Tommy Bowe, 10 Johnny McPhillips, 9 John Cooney, 8 Jean Deysel, 7 Nick Timoney, 6 Matty Rea, 5 Kieran Treadwell, 4 Alan O'Connor (captain), 3 Wiehahn Herbst, 2 Rob Herring, 1 Andrew Warwick.

Replacements: 16 John Andrew, 17 Kyle McCall, 18 Rodney Ah You, 19 Matthew Dalton, 20 Chris Henry, 21 Jonny Stewart, 22 Darren Cave, 23 David Busby.

Edinburgh: 15 Dougie Fife, 14 Jason Harries, 13 Mark Bennett, 12 Chris Dean, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Jaco van der Walt, 9 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 8 Cornell du Preez, 7 John Hardie, 6 Bill Mata, 5 Lewis Carmichael 4 Fraser McKenzie (captain), 3 Murray McCallum, 2 Neil Cochrane, 1 Jordan Lay.

Replacements: 16 Cameron Fenton, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 Eliot Millar Mills, 19 Magnus Bradbury, 20 Luke Crosbie, 21 Nathan Fowles, 22 Duncan Weir, 23 Glenn Bryce.

Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)

Assistant referees: Andy Brace (Ireland), Adam Jones (Wales)

TMO: Jon Mason (Wales)

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