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Edinburgh see off Ospreys to give Mike Blair winning send-off at home
By PA
Edinburgh gave head coach Mike Blair a fitting send-off in his last home game before stepping down as they ended a run of four defeats in the BKT United Rugby Championship with a 45-21 win over Ospreys.
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Five first-half tries ensured the game was over as a contest by the break, and although the second 40 was more even, the Scots were in no mood to let the game out of their grasp.
Edinburgh took a fifth-minute lead when Ben Vellacott intercepted an Owen Williams pass just inside the Ospreys half and ran in unopposed.
That score injected a massive dose of confidence into a home side that had been desperately short of that quality in recent months, and within minutes they scored again.
A more orthodox attack set up the platform this time, with Jamie Ritchie and Darcy Graham among those combining well wide out on the right before Dave Cherry was on hand to finish off from close range.
Ospreys had not had an attack worthy of the name up to that point, but that changed after Luke Morgan was tackled into touch by Blair Kinghorn close to the home five-metre line.
Edinburgh lost their lineout, and after a couple of assaults on the goal line were rebuffed, Dewi Lake made sure from three metres out and Owen Williams converted.
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Edinburgh hit back and got their third try just past the quarter-hour mark. Sam Skinner finished off this time, with Hamish Watson providing the assist.
The home support were on their feet again minutes later when Emiliano Boffelli got the bonus-point try after intercepting a wide pass inside his own 10-metre line.
Skinner was then shown a yellow card for a dangerous tackle on Rhys Davies, but Ospreys were unable to make their numerical advantage count.
Minutes before the break, Davies himself was sent to the sin bin for going in late and high on Graham.
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Then, in the last move of the half, Watson got Edinburgh’s fifth: Kinghorn sent a penalty to touch, the maul functioned smoothly this time, and the Scotland openside finished off, with Boffelli’s conversion taking the score to 35-7.
With Davies back on, Ospreys scored first in the second half, Lake finishing off a lineout drive and Owen Williams converting.
Morgan Morris became the third player of the night to be carded as the referee grew tired of his team’s offending.
With the Ospreys defence both down a man and beginning to feel the pace, Graham got the score he had long been threatening to take, bouncing out of a couple of tackles on his way to touching down wide out on the right.
Graham grabbed a second inside the final 10 minutes by winning the race for a chip ahead by Boffelli before Sam Parry scored a late consolation for Ospreys.
