Cardiff Blues 34 - 23 Edinburgh: Dan Parks in the driving seat as Blues defeat Edinburgh

NEMESIS had a familiar look for Edinburgh as the opponent who orchestrated their downfall in Cardiff was Scotland colleague and regular Glasgow foe Dan Parks.

He was crucial to Glasgow's double over Edinburgh last season so it was a case of new club, same result, with Scotland coach Andy Robinson among an appreciative crowd who were chanting Parks' name by the end of the match.

To no-one's surprise he was named the man-of-the-match at the end of a game in which Edinburgh had enjoyed plenty of pressure, lots of time in the opposition 22 and some really neat line-breaks thanks to skilful offloading of the ball - but were still given a lesson in finishing by the home team.

Left wing Tim Visser may have another two years of his residential qualification to serve, but he scored two tries to remind Robinson of what might lie in wait at international level. In the meantime it was a good start towards his target of being the Magners League top try scorer for the second successive season.

Edinburgh coach Rob Moffatt could also take consolation in the debut of Fijian No 8 Netani Talei. He was brought in to get over the gain line and provide the attacks with a focus - and he did just that.

Opposite number Xavier Rush, the former All Black, provided one wonderful piece of skill as he recovered his own kick and then delivered a delightful back flip pass for the Blues' second try, but apart from that it was Talei who was the dominant No 8 in the game, which was quite an achievement.

Certainly Blues coach Dai Young felt afterwards that Edinburgh could take plenty of encouragement from the game and the way they put the home team under pressure.

It was also a weekend when all five Magners League matches were won by the home team, so there is no shame in the defeat as long as Edinburgh can take the lessons forward into their next match at Murrayfield, against Munster.

However Edinburgh coach Rob Moffatt did not quite see it like that, saying: "We are not encouraged, we lost the game and we did not deserve to win. Our error count tonight was high.If we make that many mistakes and errors then we will not win games.

"I thought if we had scored with ten minutes to go then that would have been interesting because the game was being played at our tempo, but we turned the ball over, they scored a good try and that was that.

"Netani Talei went through a big work rate for us, must have carried the ball more than 20 times, so we have to get with him.

"Dan Parks played well, he will be good for them. We did not make a big thing about him before the game, but he will give them direction and he is a player that people respect because he has got better and better."

Visser's first try followed some neat work by centre Ben Cairns and brought Edinburgh back into the game with a chance of salvaging at least a losing bonus point. Full-back Chris Paterson missed his first kick at goal but then was his more normal self in slotting the next five.

The crucial moment came as Edinburgh battered away at the Blues who were down to 14 men after wing Tom James was sent to the sin bin, but a turnover and some imaginative play from the home team led to their bonus point try at the other end.

Visser crossed again in the corner in the dying seconds, a score which had no relevance to the game but gave last season's top try scorer in the league a good start as he aims for a repeat this season.

"On a personal level it is always good to score tries as a winger, but it was blackened out by a loss in the first game of the season," admitted the Dutchman.

"Of course I have the try scoring record in mind, you cannot lie about that, and a try is a try which is what you play the game for as a winger, but winning comes first and foremost.

"We had a lot of positives in the breaks we made and how close we came, but we need to finish off, and next week against Munster at home is a must-win game for us."

Edinburgh will hope the home hoodoo can continue into next weekend's Magners League fixtures, but they will no doubt be working on their finishing in training this week to try and make sure.

Scorers: Cardiff Blues: Tries: Davies, James, Thomas, Laulala. Pens: Parks (3). Cons: Parks (3). Edinburgh: Tries: Visser (2). Pens: Paterson (3). Cons: Paterson (2).

Cardiff: C Czekaj; R Mustoe, C Laulala, T Shanklin, T James; D Parks, R Rees; G Jenkins, R Thomas, S Andrews, B Davies, P Tito, M Molitika, M Williams, X Rush. Replacements: Jones for Tito (46), Warburton for M Williams (69). Not Used: Blair, Sweeney, L Williams, R Williams, Hobbs, T Davies.

Edinburgh: C Paterson; L Jones, B Cairns, A Grove, T Visser; P Godman, M Blair; A Jacobsen, R Ford, G Cross, F MacKenzie, S MacLeod, A MacDonald, R Grant, N Talei.Replacements: J Houston for Grove (55), D Blair for Godman (70), G Laidlaw for M Blair (70), K Traynor for Jacobsen (55), A Kelly for Ford (70), J Gilding for G Cross (61), C Hamilton for MacKenzie (61), S Newlands for MacDonald (36).