Edinburgh’s joy turns to despair with late penalty

John Cooney shot down Edinburgh in a drama-packed encounter in Belfast last night.

Edinburgh thought they had pulled off a great smash-and-grab act when the boot of Simon Hickey put them in front in the dying seconds.

But the glee turned to gloom as Cooney thumped over the clincher at the other end.

Edinburgh were handed an early confidence boost when Hickey slotted a penalty awarded for illegally collapsing a maul.

And the new Kiwi signing found the target again following some great work at the breakdown from Luke Hamilton.

Even better was to come from the visitors as winger Tom Brown marked his comeback by finishing off a slick move featuring Henry Pyrgos. Hickey added the extras. Gunners suffered an immediate blow when centre Mark Bennett was taken off with a leg injury and replaced by James Johnstone.

Two minutes later Ulster narrowed the gap with a Cooney penalty.

Hickey and Cooney traded further penalties as the action became disjointed.

Ulster were convinced they had scored with the last move of the half. However, the video ref chalked it off.

The home troops looked more urgent after the restart, yet it was Edinburgh who snapped up the next crucial touchdown.

Substitute Johnstone raced in beside the sticks to give Hickey an easy kick.

Ulster’s response was quick and lethal with Will Addison grabbing their first try and Cooney converting.

Hickey’s next penalty gave Edinburgh some more breathing space.

The end-to-end action hotted up as Cooney cruised over for a sevenpointer.

Then Craig Gilroy sprinted 50 metres for another, also goaled by Cooney to set up a tense finale.

The drama mounted when Hickey banged over another penalty, only for Cooney to snatch the glory in stoppage time.

Ulster: Addison, Gilroy, Cave, McCloskey, Speight, Burns, Cooney, Warwick, Herring, Kane, Treadwell, Henderson, Coetzee, Murphy, Timoney. Replacements: McBurney, O’Sullivan, Herbst, O’Connor, Reidy, Shanahan, Curtis, Kernohan.

Edinburgh: Kinghorn, Fife, Bennett, Scott, Brown, Hickey, Pyrgos, Schoeman, McInally, Nel, Toolis, Gilchrist, Hamilton, Ritchie, Mata. Replacements: Ford, Dell, McCallum, McKenzie, Crosbie, Kennedy, Van Der Walt, Johnstone.