DRIVE TO SURVIVE
Relief for Sean as Edinburgh hold off Welsh comeback
EDINBURGH claimed a valuable win in the race for the URC play-offs last night as they held off a spirited second-half fightback from Ospreys.
The Welsh side were 16-3 down at half-time but dominated the second 40 and came close to snatching a dramatic win at the death.
The home defence did just enough to get the victory which takes the capital club up to fourth – at least until today’s games are played.
Edinburgh head coach Sean Everitt said: “We’re getting into the habit of this. It wasn’t the complete performance that we had hoped for tonight.
“I thought we started the game off well. Going into half-time 16-3 up, which could have been 19, we were clearly on top. It was going to
be tough in the second half with the wind but we didn’t get a good start against a team that doesn’t go away.
“We knew they were going to push us all the way through to the 80th minute and that’s exactly what they did.
“There were aspects of our game tonight that were really good. Our kick accuracy maybe let us down a little bit but I’m just happy that we got the win.
“Staying in touch with the guys at the top is going to be important.”
Man of the match Hamish Watson got Edinburgh’s only try, with the rest of the points coming from the boot of Ben Healy.
The first chance of the game came after Sam Skinner won clean lineout ball and Harry Paterson broke from midfield. Ospreys offended in front of their own posts but instead of going for goal the home team sent the ball to touch – only to be penalised themselves before they could get their maul going.
At the other end, Ospreys won a scrum penalty on the edge of the Edinburgh 22 and stand-off Dan Edwards was on target to open the scoring.
The Welshmen continued to look dangerous but it was Edinburgh who got the next score off a lineout.
Fijian star Bill Mata broke through before feeding Matt Currie and then, as the defence closed him down, the centre passed to Watson who finished off from a couple of metres out. Healy converted, then added two long-range penalties to give his team a 10-point lead.
He kicked a third penalty with five minutes left in the half. A break by Keelan Giles briefly threatened to add to Ospreys’ tally but Scotland new boy Paterson intercepted what would have been a scoring pass so it stayed 16-3 at the break.
Ospreys needed to score first in the second half to get back into the game – and they did so on 47 minutes.
They sent a penalty into touch deep inside the home half and hooker Sam Parry finished off from the lineout. Edwards’ conversion attempt crashed back off a post so the score stayed 16-8.
Ali Price came on at scrumhalf as Edinburgh tried to up the tempo and winger Wes Goosen also came off the bench on his return from a long-term injury.
A good break by Paterson nearly reached the line but he was dispossessed just in time by Kieran Williams.
Edinburgh kept up the pressure but Healy was off target with a penalty for the first time.
Ospreys were far from finished and inside the final quarter-hour they got their second try of the night.
Their first drive off the back of a scrum was held up by the defence but they changed the angle of the attack and substitute Morgan Morris forced his way over the line.
Owen Williams converted to make it a one-point game at 16-15. A Healy penalty put a little bit of daylight between the teams but the home defence had to dig deep in the dying moments to hold off some late Ospreys pressure.