Edinburgh make it two from two
PRO14 REPORT: Mark Bennett scored the match-winning try as Edinburgh made it two from two in Conference B with a 19-11 victory over Cardiff Blues at Cardiff Arms Park.
It took 71 minutes for the visitors to score their first try of the game, Jaco van der Walt grabbing all 12 of Edinburgh’s points through penalties before Bennett, who scored a hat-trick in last weekend’s victory over Zebre, crossed the whitewash.
It was a tough afternoon for Cardiff, who led early on thanks to an Owen Lane try and a penalty from Jarrod Evans, the Welsh side left to rue multiple missed opportunities on the ball.
It was Edinburgh who got the first points on the board at Adams Park with van der Walt scoring two penalties in quick succession to give the visitors a 6-0 lead, but Cardiff struck back quickly, winger Lane bursting through the defence to score the first try of the game.
The hosts took the lead for the first time on 35 minutes through an Evans penalty, but it was Edinburgh who edged the match at the break, van der Walt with another straightforward penalty.
The hosts were not able to hold on to their slender advantage for long, as the Blues regained the lead just four minutes into the second-half through another Evans penalty.
The back-and-forth theme continued as Edinburgh retook a one-point lead after van der Walt scored his fourth penalty of the evening.
As the clock ticked down gaps started to appear, Edinburgh’s George Taylor capitalising as he burst through the midfield, spotting the support of Bennett who crossed for the visitor’s first try of the game, van der Walt converting to secure the win for Edinburgh and keep his 100 percent accuracy with the boot.
The scorers:
For Cardiff:
Try: Lane
Pens: Evans 2
For Edinburgh:
Try: Bennett
Con: Van der Walt
Pens: Van der Walt 4
Teams:
Cardiff Blues: 15 Matthew Morgan, 14 Owen Lane, 13 Garyn Smith, 12 Willis Halaholo, 11 Aled Summerhill, 10 Jarrod Evans, Lloyd Williams, 8 Nick Williams (captain), 7 Olly Robinson, 6 Josh Turnbull, 5 Rory Thornton, 4 Seb Davies, 3 Dmitri Arhip, 2 Liam Belcher, 1 Brad Thyer.
Replacements: 16 Kristian Dacey, 17 Corey Domachowski, 18 Scott Andrews, 19 Shane Lewis-Hughes, 20 Will Boyde, 21 Lewis Jones, 22 Jason Tovey, 23 Harri Millard.
Edinburgh: 15 Damien Hoyland, 14 Jamie Farndale, 13 Mark Bennett, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Jaco van der Walt, 9 Nic Groom (captain), 8 Nick Haining, 7 Luke Crosbie, 6 Lewis Carmichael, 5 Murray Douglas, 4 Fraser McKenzie, 3 Pietro Ceccarelli, 2 Mike Willemse, 1 Pierre Schoeman.
Replacements: 16 Cameron Fenton, 17 Jamie Bhatti, 18 Murray McCallum, 19 Mesu Kunavula, 20 Ally Miller, 21 Charlie Shiel, 22 Simon Hickey, 23 George Taylor.
Referee: Frank Murphy (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Ben Whitehouse (Wales), Robert O’Sullivan (Ireland)
TMO: Olly Hodges (Ireland)
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