Edinburgh too strong for Treviso

Editor

Edinburgh continued their recent surge up the PRO12 standings as they overcame struggling Treviso, winning 28-13 at Murrayfield on Friday.

The home side dominated first-half proceedings with a Damien Hoyland try separating the two sides at half-time. This was despite strong kicking from James Ambrosini keeping the visiting Italians in touch.

Indiscipline defined the second-half with referee Gary Conway awarding Edinburgh a penalty try before sending Alex Toolis to the sin-bin. 

Two Treviso players were also shown yellow cards in the closing stages before man of the match Hoyland added his second try of the match to secure victory for the hosts.

The win takes Edinburgh ahead of Connacht into third place ahead of their clash with Cardiff Blues in three weeks' time. Meanwhile the visitors remain rooted to the bottom of the PRO12 with just seven points as a season of struggle looks set to continue.

The scoring was opened in the seventh minute, Sam Hidalgo-Clyne scoring a penalty. Edinburgh added to their advantage in the twelfth minute, Hoyland going over in the corner for the hosts' first try of the match.

James Ambrosini pulled a penalty back for Treviso in the 17th minute before adding another seven minutes later. This took the scores to 10-6 heading into the half-time break.

After the interval, Hidalgo-Clyne added his second penalty to extend the home side's lead to seven points. The Scottish international slotted another penalty between the posts in the 50th minute as Edinburgh began to press home their dominance.

In the 58th minute a penalty try was awarded to the hosts by referee Conway with Hidalgo-Clyne adding the extras to extend his side's lead to 17 points.

In the 63rd minute Toolis was sent to the sin-bin for an infringement. Treviso capitalised on their man advantage through a try from Luke McLean, the full-back crossing the whitewash to offer the visitors a glimmer of hope. Ambrosini kicked the conversion to cut the defecit to ten points with 15 minutes to play.

However, Edinburgh saw out the match as late drama ensued with Treviso's Tom Palmer and Ornel Gega both being shown yellow cards in the final two minutes. This was before Hoyland added his second try with the last action of the match. Greig Tonks' conversion attempt hit the upright to make the final score 28-13 to the hosts.

The scorers:

For Edinburgh:
Tries: Hoyland 2, Penalty
Con: Hidalgo-Clyne 2
Pen: Hidalgo-Clyne 3

For Treviso:
Try: McLean
Con: Ambrosini
Pen: Ambrosini 2

Edinburgh: 15 Jack Cuthbert, 14 Dougie Fife, 13 Michael Allen, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Damien Hoyland, 10 Greig Tonks, 9 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 8 Cornell Du Preez, 7 John Hardie, 6 Mike Coman (c), 5 Alex Toolis, 4 Anton Bresler, 3 WP Nel, 2 Neil Cochrane, 1 Rory Sutherland.
Replacements: 16 Stuart McInally, 17 Allan Dell, 18 John Andress, 19 Jamie Ritchie, 20 Magnus Bradbury, 21 Sean Kennedy, 22 Blair Kinghorn, 23 Andries Strauss.

Treviso: 15 Luke McLean, 14 Andrea Pratichetti, 13 Sam Christie, 12 Alberto Sgarbi, 11 Simone Ragusi, 10 James Ambrosini, 9 Chris Smylie, 8 Robert Barbieri, 7 Alessandro Zanni (c), 6 Marco Barbini, 5 Jeff Montauriol, 4 Filo Paulo, 3 Salesi Manu, 2 Roberto Santamaria, 1 Matteo Zanusso.
Replacements: 16 Ornel Gega, 17 Cherif Traorè, 18 Alberto De Marchi, 19 Tom Palmer, 20 Francesco Minto, 21 Marco Lazzaroni, 22 Alberto Lucchese, 23 Enrico Bacchin.

Referee: Gary Conway (Ireland)
Assistant Referees: Mike Adamson (Scotland), Stephen Hart (Scotland)