Godman late show sinks Racing
Phil Godman kicked a drop-goal right on the final whistle to give Edinburgh a thrilling 27-24 victory in their Heineken Cup clash at Racing Metro.
Last Updated: 13/01/12 11:02pm
Phil Godman kicked a drop-goal right on the final whistle to give Edinburgh a thrilling 27-24 victory in their Heineken Cup clash at Racing Metro.
The Scots maintained their position at the top of Pool 2 thanks to Godman's late effort that moved them four points ahead of Cardiff Blues, as they look for a first quarter-final place in eight years.
In a nip-and-tuck battle in Paris, Edinburgh took the lead three times with three tries, but each time the French outfit responded in kind to take the game right down to the wire.
Back-row trio Ross Rennie, Netani Talei and David Denton all crossed for the visitors as they went for a second away win in the competition.
Racing responded through Francois Steyn, Juan Jose Imhoff and Antoine Battut, and then took the lead for the first time with Jonathan Wisniewski's penalty ten minutes from time, but Greig Laidlaw levelled just two minutes later with his penalty to set-up a grandstand finish.
Breakthrough
Sebastien Chabal's powerful early breaks provided some spark but the game really kicked into gear when Rennie crossed for the opening score.
Quick ball from the base from Mike Blair initiated things and Rennie was then fed in midfield and did not need a second invitation to barge through the weak defence and run in under the posts for a converted score.
Tackling in the midfield was again questionable for Racing's opening try. Edinburgh had repelled their hosts' repeated efforts well until Fabrice Estebanez created a hole in midfield and offloaded to Francois Steyn, who dived over.
Edinburgh went in front again when a quick attack down the blind side set up field position and then bided their time before Talei broke through and stretched over the line to grab a second try for the Scots.
With Cardiff not playing until Saturday this was an ideal opportunity for Edinburgh to lay down a marker after the break but their lead lasted just two second-half minutes.
Try
Juan Imhoff made a mockery of the covering defence, outsprinting them down the blind side before rounding Chris Paterson with ease to level the score.
Rather than consolidate, Racing immediately started looking for their next score and switched off in defence, allowing Denton to sprint clear for the game's fifth try and make it a try apiece for the visiting back row.
But they soon responded with the game's sixth try as Antoine Battut touched down after an attack that always looked destined to end with a try. Hernandez again levelled the scores, this time from the touchline before making way for Jonathan Wisniewski.
Wisniewski missed the chance to edge his side in front just minutes after coming on, with a long-range kick drifting wide, but the fly-half had no problem as his second effort sailed over.
Laidlaw responded with three points of his own two minutes later and then Godman struck just before the final whistle, dropping Edinburgh to victory.
