Edinburgh secure fine win against Cardiff
Three yellow cards for Cardiff did nothing to help their cause on Sunday afternoon as they were well beaten by an Edinburgh side welcoming a few returning players.
The first score came after Edinburgh took full advantage of the first Cardiff yellow for a punch after three minutes of play to drive up into their 22. A line out win on the five metre line set up a ruck, which scrum half, Sam Hidalgo-Clyne used to get a pass out to centre, Andries Strauss. He sold a dummy to the defence and ran in for a touch down behind the posts. Tom Heathcote was left with an easy conversion an the score was 7-0, with eight minutes played Cardiff then won a scoring chance of their own with a twelfth minute penalty which Gareth Davies saw over to pull three points back.
This score was wiped out three minutes later as Edinburgh pushed Cardiff back and were awarded a penalty of their own on the 22. Heathcote sent the ball over from the kick to restore the seven point lead at 10-3.
It was then Cardiff’s turn to take play upfield and winning a scrum on the five metre line, were then awarded a penalty for Edinburgh pulling the scrum down. Unfortunately, Davies missed the kick, but came back straight from the restart to put pressure on the Edinburgh defence. However, their continued indiscipline gave Edinburgh two penalties in quick succession, the second of which, Heathcote stuck over from 45 metres to take the score to 13-3 with 15 minutes of the half left.
The next five minutes of play was dominated by penalties, with four being shared out between the sides. The fourth penalty went ardiff’s way and the visitors used it to get up to Edinburgh’s five metre line once again. They then spent the next couple of minutes hammering away at the Edinburgh line and finally managed to cross the line in the 31st minute. However the referre was unsighted and called on a TMO decision. Fortunately for the hosts, he deemed the ball was ‘held up’ and a five metre scrum was awarded to Cardiff.
Two of the three attempts to scrum fell over, but on the third go, Cardiff again infringed, allowing Edinburgh to clear their lines.
By this time the ref had had enough of Cardiff’s lack of discipline and at the next penalty, inside their 10 metre line he binned flanker, Ellis Jenkins. Heathcote, nearing the limit of his range just squeezed the ball over to take a 16-3 lead into the last five minutes. However, the bane of every coach in the land, cropped up once again as Edinburgh gave away a penalty straight from the restart to give Davies another opportunity to reduce the deficit to 10 points. Kick over 16-6 and two minutes left. Once again, Edinburgh pushed upfield, but, once again, a penalty gave the ball back to the visitors. Their drive into the 22 ended, thankfully with Hidalgo-Clyne dotting down a kick through to bring the half to an end.
Cardiff started the second half well, but, what must have been, their umptyeth penalty gave Heathcote, an unsuccessful attempt at goal.
With returnees Dougie Fife and Tom Brown, firing on all cylinders, a drive set up on the try line, left Fife free on the wing. A wide pass from the base of the ruck, then put the No. 14 free to fall over the line for Edinburgh’s second try, and another yellow card for Cardiff. Heathcote then scored the conversion and 23-6 was the ever widening scoreline.
With 50 minutes on the clock yet another Cardiff penalty give-away took Edinburgh back up to their five metre line, but Cardiff turned the ball over and cleared their lines. Five minutes later, the hosts were back on the attack and Brown forced a five metre scrum award by making the defence carry the ball back over. From the scrum, the ball was swiftly moved back to the left wing, where Brown got outside the defence to take the final pass and dive over for Edinburgh’s third try. Heathcote missed the kick, but the score now stood at 28-6 with play entering the final quarter.
The final 20 minutes were dominated by Cardiff as they drove Edinburgh back to their try line and almost went over from a ruck. However, Rody Grant then saw yellow to give the visitors a man advantage. Edinburgh held out, but found themselves pinned back in their five metre zone. Following a flurry of penalties, Cardiff found themselves on the left of the hosts goal area. A couple of passes across the front of the defence found Davies in possession a few metres out, but his pass on was prevented by Heathcote. He was then yellow carded for a deliberate knock-down, which didn’t sit too well with the Edinburgh faithful, who’s interpretation was somewhat different. However, a big screen, slow motion, action replay showed that the No. 10 had indeed knocked the ball away, before going in for an ‘afterthought’ tackle on Davies.
Now down to 13, the home defence could only hold out for so long and, in the 73rd minute, centre, Adam Thomas launched through a gaping hole in the line for Cardiff’e try. Davies scored the conversion, but with only six minutes left, that was the end of scoring and Edinburgh ran out worthy winners to the tune of 28-13
Images from the match will appear here over the next few days.
