Blues claim comeback win

Editor

Cardiff Blues came from behind to beat Edinburgh 18-17 at Myreside on Friday.

The Blues came from 11 points behind to take a win which moves them closer to the top half of the table while Edinburgh's losing bonus point does little to move them away from the lower echelons of the division. 

The two sides took part in a tight, low-scoring first half which was perhaps evident from the first five minutes as both sides struggled to take control of possession. 

Cardiff took the lead with three points from Steven Shingler from the tee after a ruck infringement from the hosts, but Edinburgh were handed a way back in as Cardiff prop Anton Peikrishvili was sent to the sin-bin for coming in from the side. 

The Scots wasted no time in taking the lead with captain Neil Cochrane going over with Sam Hidalgo-Clyne kicking the extras just after the quarter of an hour mark. 

Moments after, Shingler added another three points from the tee, but the rest of the first half saw both sides struggling to progress their tallies with penalties going wayward due to the errant wind with the sides going into the break with the scores close. 

The second half provided more excitement in its early stages with Edinburgh extending their lead with less than 50 minutes on the clock thanks to an outstanding solo try from Rory Scholes who weaved down the touchline before crossing the whitewash in the corner. 

Scholes appeared to have put the game beyond reasonable doubt with a second try of the contest which was played in by Hidalgo-Clyne and he crashed over. 

It did not take long for Cardiff to work their way back in with back-row Sion Bennett going over the whitewash on the hour mark and with less than 10 minutes to go, the Welsh side re-took the lead through Lloyd Williams though his conversion was charged down but it mattered not as Cardiff held out for the narrow victory.

The scorers:

For Edinburgh:
Tries:
Cochrane, Scholes 2
Cons: Hidalgo-Clyne

For Cardiff Blues:
Tries:
Bennett, Williams
Cons: Shingler
Pens: Shingler 2

Edinburgh: 15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Damien Hoyland, 13 Glenn Bryce, 12 Chris Dean, 11 Rory Scholes, 10 Jason Tovey, 9 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 8 Cornell Du Preez, 7 Jamie Ritchie, 6 Magnus Bradbury, 5 Ben Toolis, 4 Fraser McKenzie, 3 Murray McCallum, 2 Neil Cochrane (c), 1 Jack Cosgrove
Replacements: 16 George Turner, 17 Derrick Appiah, 18 Kevin Bryce, 19 Grant Gilchrist, 20 Lewis Carmichael, 21 Nathan Fowles, 22 Junior Rasolea, 23 Michael Allen

Cardiff Blues: 15 Matthew Morgan, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Willis Halaholo, 12 Steve Shingler, 11 Tom James, 10 Gareth Anscombe, 9 Lloyd Williams, 8 Nick Williams, 7 Josh Sion Bennett, 6 Macauley Cook, 5 Jarrad Hoeata, 4 George Earle, 3 Anton Peikrishvili, 2 Kristian Dacey, 1 Rhys Gill
Replacements: 16 Matthew Rees, 17 Corey Domachowski, 18 Scott Andrews, 19 James Down, 20 Kirby Myhill, 21 Tomos Williams, 22 Garyn Smith, 23 Aled Summerhill

Referee: David Wilkinson (Ireland)
Assistant Referees: Mark Patton (Scotland), Cammy Rudkin (Scotland)
TMO: Olly Hodges (Ireland)