Edinburgh 32-15 Aironi: Edinburgh make themselves at home

Edinburgh's improvement on home territory continued last night with a convincing victory over the Magners League new boys from Italy. But interim head coach Nick Scrivener showed prescience in his pre-match comments suggesting a tough encounter against a side his charges only just managed to defeat back in October in Lombardy. In that first contest, it took a last-minute converted try to secure a 10-9 win.

This result was rather more comfortable and means Edinburgh have managed to achieve their first back-to-back home successes since last November, following a narrow win over Ospreys in their previous match at Murrayfield two weeks ago. Last night, Edinburgh were just too strong and too slick for the men from Viadana.In what has proved to be a difficult inaugural season for the Italians, Aironi's first ever visit to Murrayfield will be, indeed, one they may rather wish to forget.

Last night the size of the task facing Aironi was evident in the first 40 minutes. During that spell they conceded three tries and could, in fairness, have found themselves considerably further adrift than the 24-8 deficit at the break. The rot began as early as the third minute when flanker Fraser McKenzie breached the visitors' defence with some ease to touch down for a try that Greig Laidlaw converted.

The stand-off extended the lead in the 11th minute when he nudged over a simple penalty but Laidlaw soon became villain rather than hero when he was sin-binned after 16 minutes. The absence proved costly as his opposite number for Aironi, James Marshall, chipped over the resultant penalty and, five minutes later, Edinburgh fullback Jim Thompson fluffed a straightforward penalty attempt that could have restored the 10-point advantage.

In an occasionally irritable and fractious first period, two more players were yellow-carded, locks Esteban Lozada and Marco Bortolami being sent to cool off for ten minutes after an exchange of punches. Edinburgh capitalised on the extra space when scrum-half Mike Blair scampered through for a simple try, to which Laidlaw added the extra points and then wing Tim Visser used his pace to breach the Italians' line, with Laidlaw again proving reliable with the boot.

The Italians gave themselves just a hint of reason to hope when wing Danwel Demas managed to squeeze through for an unconverted try right on half-time. One of the biggest cheers of the night was for the introduction of the veteran Chris Paterson when he replaced Thompson at full-back after 53 minutes. And it was, almost inevitably, Paterson who finally got the scoreboard moving once more when he broke through for his team's fourth try in the 58th minute. His quality was further evident a minute later when he produced a trademark try-saving tackle to deny Aironi hope of a comeback.

Aironi continued to scrap and fight, and they almost produced a score after 65 minutes, bundling over the Edinburgh line but being judged to have been held up by referee John Lacey.

However, their tenacity was rewarded a minute later when, from the resultant scrum, No 8 Nick Williams rumbled over, with Marshall converting.

Edinburgh, though, responded well, driving into Aironi's 22 and winning a penalty in 71 minutes that Laidlaw gratefully accepted. Edinburgh can be well satisfied with their evening's work. The forwards and backs linked well, with direct running and good support play causing problems for Aironi. For Edinburgh, there were a number of fine performances, none more so than that of David Denton and Scott MacLeod. The big No 8 and the lock were superb, driving to good effect into the Aironi line and disrupting superbly in defence, and Denton was deservedly named man of the match.

Among the backs, Mike Blair and Laidlaw were also effective as a half-back hinge but Paterson again proved the star turn, despite having to enter the fray from the bench.

Edinburgh will now be looking to extend their winning run at Murrayfield to three in a row with a further home encounter next Friday, when Newport Gwent Dragons come calling, but they will have to produce another fine performance if they are to prevail.

Scorers: Edinburgh: Tries: McKenzie, Blair, Visser, Paterson; Cons Laidlaw (3); pens Laidlaw (2).

Aironi: Tries Demas, Williams; Con Marshall; Pen Marshall.

Edinburgh: Jim Thompson, Simon Webster, Ben Cairns, James King, Tim Visser, Greig Laidlaw, Mike Blair, Kyle Traynor, Andrew Kelly, Geoff Cross, Scott MacLeod, Esteban Lozada, Fraser McKenzie, Roddy Grant, David Denton. Subs used: Alun Walker, Lewis Niven, David Young, Steven Turnbull, Stuart McInally, Nick De Luca, Lee Jones, Chris Paterson.

Aironi: Giulio Rubini, Kaine Robertson, Gilberto Pavan, Matteo Pratichetti, Danwel Demas, James Marshall, Pablo Canavosio, Salvatore Perugini, Fabio Ongaro, Ulyses Gamboa, Marco Bortolami, Quintin Geldenhuys, Nicola Cattina, Gareth Krause, Nick Williams. Subs used: Luigi Ferraro, Fabio Staibano, Alberto De Marchi, George Biagi, Jaco Erasmus, Giorgio Bronzini, Gabriel Pizarro, Riccardo Bocchino.