Cardiff Blues moved into the play-off places after edging past a disappointing Edinburgh 16-11 at Murrayfield in the Magners League on Friday.
After a damp-squib of an opening period, where it took until the 31st minute for the first score of the match, a try by Cardiff winger Chris Czekaj opened up an unassailable 10-point half-time lead.
The Blues have now won five of their last six matches and are one of the in-form side's going into the business end of the season.
For the hosts, their year looks to be heading to a disappointing conclusion after they lost their seventh consecutive game and they now haven't won since January, although a consolation Tim Visser score at least gave them a losing bonus point.
To say it was a cagey opening would be an understatement and it took until the 28th minute for the first scoring chance, but fly-half David Blair's penalty attempt missed the target for the home side.
However, Cardiff finally managed to break the deadlock when winger Leigh Halfpenney booted them into the lead. They extended that advantage when Czekaj went over, and Halfpenny's conversion eased them into a comfortable position at half-time.
However, Blair kicked a penalty to bring them within a converted score before the Blues winger then booted two of his own to open up a 13-point lead.
Edinburgh refused to give in, though, and their fly-half once again closed the gap. But Visser's late score proved mere consolation which condemned the Scottish side to yet another loss.
The scorers:
For Edinburgh:
Try: Visser
Pens: Blair 2
For Cardiff Blues:
Try: Czekaj
Con: Halfpenny
Pens: Halfpenny 3
The teams:
Edinburgh: 15 Jim Thompson, 14 Simon Webster, 13 Ben Cairns, 12 James King, 11 Tim Visser, 10 David Blair, 9 Greig Laidlaw (c), 7 Struan Dewar, 8 Netani Talei, 6 David Denton, 5 Steven Turnbull, 4 Esteban Lozada, 3 Geoff Cross, 2 Andrew Kelly, 1 Lewis Niven
Replacements: 16 Alun Walker, 17 Kyle Traynor, 18 David Young, 19 Scott MacLeod, 20 Scott Newlands, 21 Ross Samson, 22 Tom Brown, 23 Andrew Turnbull.
Cardiff Blues: 15 Chris Czekaj, 14 Leigh Halfpenny, 13 Casey Laulala, 12 Dafydd Hewitt, 11 Richard Mustoe, 10 Ceri Sweeney, 9 Tom Slater, 8 Xavier Rush, 7 Martyn Williams, 6 Maama Molitika, 5 Paul Tito (c), 4 Deiniol Jones, 3 Scott Andrews, 2 T Rhys Thomas, 1 John Yapp
Replacements: 16 Gareth Williams, 17 Sam Hobbs, 18 Fau Filise, 19 Michael Paterson, 20 Andries Pretorius, 21 Tom Rowlands, 22 Gareth Davies, 23 Gavin Evans.
Referee: David Wilkinson (Ireland)
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