Edinburgh 19 Connacht 14:THE SPOILS went to Edinburgh last night as Connacht came up against a Scottish outfit desperate to claim their first win of the campaign.

The sideshow to this fixture was the first meeting of former Connacht coach Michael Bradley and his successor, Eric Elwood, and it produced a game with edge and tension.

Edinburgh did just enough to claim their first win, while Connacht will rue several missed chance. But they did well to come back to claim a bonus point after Edinburgh had opened up a 10- point lead by the 70th minute.

Despite dominating the opening 20 minutes, Connacht had nothing on the scoreboard. It had taken a super tackle from Tim Visser to bundle Tiernan O’Halloran into touch yards from the line after Frank Murphy had stolen possession inside the Connacht 22.

And when outhalf Matthew Jarvis missed two long-range penalties, Connacht had wasted their territorial stranglehold.

It took 34 minutes to break the deadlock. Greig Laidlaw had missed a kick from the left touch line, but it gave the home side the impetus they needed. Recycling through the phases with number eight Dave Denton, centre Jim Thomson, and prop Kyle Traynor making inroads, and Laidlaw directing behind the scrum, they gained sufficient momentum and territorial control. It was rewarded when Connacht were pinged for not rolling away in the tackle.

Laidlaw stroked over the penalty in the 34th minute and the home side continued to control proceedings late in the half after Gavin Duffy was sinbinned.

After Connacht also lost influential number eight George Naoupu to injury, the penalties started to mount, and Laidlaw added his second in the 39th minute to give the visitors a 6-0 lead at the break.

It remained as tight in the second half as both sides had to rely on their kickers. Jarvis opening Connachts account after three minutes and thereafter it was tit-for-tat in the kicking stakes as both defences held firm.

The breakthrough came after replacement Niall O’Connors attempted chip was blocked down and replacement scrumhalf Gregor Hunter claimed the touchdown with Laidlaw converting.

However, three minutes later Connacht grabbed one of their own from a sweeping backline move. Replacement Brett Wilkinson was influential, leading the charge alongside Mike McCarthy, Johnny OConor and John Muldoon before Niall O’Connor on the loop crossed in the left corner.

It brought Connacht within four points and when they were awarded a 77th minute penalty they went for broke. The maul made immediate headway but the the move eventually broke down out wide.

CONNACHT: G Duffy (capt); M McCrea, H Faafili, E Griffin, T OHalloran; M Jarvis, F Murphy; R Loughney, E Reynecke, R Ah You, M McCarthy, M Swift, J Muldoon, J OConnor, G Naoupu. Replacements: R Ofisa for Naoupu (37), D Rogers for Ah You (44), B Wilkinson for Loughney (50), N OConnor for Jarvis (54),A Flavin for Reynicke, P ODonohoe for Murphy (both 60), B Tuohy for McCrea (67). Yellow Card: G Duffy.

EDINBURGH: T Brown; L Jones, J Thompson, J King, T Visser; G Laidlaw (capt), C Leck; K Traynor, S Lawrie, S Knight, G Gilchrist, S Turnbull, S Cox, R Grant, D Denton. Replacements: G Hunter for Leck (53), S McInally for Gilchrist (60), A Kelly for Lawrie, R Hislop for Traynor (both 62).

Referee: A Falzone (FIR).