Edinburgh Fade To Defeat

Edinburgh Rugby 19 - 30 Celtic Warriors Meadowbank   Att: 1,957 Referee: Colin Stanley Friday 30th April 2004, 19:30

Edinburgh faded to a 30-19 defeat against Celtic Warriors at Meadowbank.

Edinburgh faded to a 30-19 defeat against Celtic Warriors at Meadowbank. Rookie Ally Warnock had given the capital men a platform with a series of accurate kicks - only for the Welshmen to seize the initiative with a two-try volley just after the break in this Celtic League clash. Edinburgh made a bright start and broke the deadlock with just two minutes on the clock. Derrick Lee's clearance kick was charged down - leading to chaos in the Welsh ranks. They failed to secure the ball and were caught offside, giving outside half Warnock the long-range chance. He struck it superbly from a metre inside enemy territory and it cleared the crossbar via the inside of a post. Warriors responded in positive fashion but found the home defence in stubborn mood. And just as they looked likely to breach the barrier, veteran scrum-half Graeme Burns relieved the pressure with a last-gasp kick to safety. Edinburgh raised the tempo in the build-up to the interval and deservedly opened up a nine-point gap. First, Warriors were deemed to have deliberately collapsed a maul, allowing Warnock to strike from close range. Then he completed his treble two minutes before the break from further out following an offside verdict. Warriors came out with all guns blazing at the restart and had the home men reeling with two tries in quick succession. Mama Molitika sparked the revival by galloping in under the bar at the end of a 20-metre charge. Then international scrum-half Gareth Cooper left the defence for dead with a brilliant display of pace and vision down the narrow side. Ceri Sweeney confidently banged over both conversions to put a whole new complexion on the game - though Warnock repaired some of the damage with his fourth penalty. Sweeney was replaced by Neil Jenkins, who announced his presence with a penalty to give the Warriors more breathing space. He banged over two more before Robert Sidoli and Allan Jacobsen traded touchdowns in a late flurry of points

Edinburgh Rugby V Celtic Warriors   P D C T Pos Player Player Pos T C D P   Derrick Lee 15 Kevin Morgan Simon Webster 14 Dafydd James Marcus Di Rollo 13 Sonny Parker Alistair Dickson 12 Gareth Thomas Hugo Southwell 11 Gareth Wyatt 4 1 Ali Warnock 10 Ceri Sweeney 2 Graeme Burns 9 Gareth Cooper 1 1 Allan Jacobsen 1 Gethin Jenkins Andrew Kelly 2 Mefin Davies Joel Brannigan 3 Chris Horsman Nathan Pike 4 Deiniol Jones Alastair Kellock 5 Robert Sidoli 1 Todd Blackadder 6 Ma'ama Molitika 1 Allister Hogg 7 Cory Harris Andrew Dall 8 Richard Bryan Replacements Carlo Di Ciacca 16 Matthew Rees Craig Smith 17 Martin Jones Ben Fisher 18 Brent Cockbain Alasdair Strokosch 19 Ryan Jones Rory Lawson 20 Sililo Martens Craig Joiner 21 Neil Jenkins 1 3 Conan Sharman 22 Emyr Lewis Penalty Tries 0 0

All Pictures: ©  http://www.inpho.ie/, Huw Evans Agency,  Martin Stuart