Ulster 30-29 Edinburgh

INPHO
Author: Alex KeeryPublished 7th Sep 2018
Last updated 7th Sep 2018

John Cooney kicked a last-second penalty that saw Ulster steal a dramatic 30-29 victory over Edinburgh at Kingspan Stadium.

Craig Gilroy scored a superb 60-metre try, Will Addison grabbed his first for his new club, and Cooney also crossed to add to the rest of the points which he kicked.

A home win looked unlikely as Dan McFarland's men started poorly and the visitors raced into a 13-0 lead as they capitalised on a string of Ulster errors at the breakdown.

Winger Tom Brown collected a looping pass to score in the corner with 15 on the clock, with Simon Hickey converting to add to his 2 early penalties.

He slotted another which was sandwiched by 2 penalties kicked by Ulster's Cooney as the home side trailed 16-6 at half time.

7 minutes after the interval Edinburgh full back Blair Kinghorn easily cut through the Ulster midfield to run clear and feed James Johnstone to cross for their second try.

The 17 point deficit finally sparked Ulster into life, and Will Addison crossed in the 54th minute to score his first try for the province. Cooney converted to narrow the gap to 10.

Hickey kicked another 3 before Addison turned provider to find Cooney and space and send him clear from 40 metres to run under the posts for a try and tee up an easy conversion which narrowed the gap to 6 points on the hour.

The game finally swung in Ulster's favour on 68 when Speight and Cooney combined well to release Craig Gilroy, who had to show exceptional pace to run it in from a full 60 metres.

Cooney slotted the kick from out wide and gave the province a single point lead heading into the final 10 minutes.

Further poor Ulster defending saw Edinburgh handed a last-minute penalty which was well kicked by Hickey to make it 29-27 with seconds to play - just long enough for Cooney to slot the winner.