A resonant scoreline in these febrile times, but this time the result was not one for Scots to cherish.

Edinburgh allowed victory to slip from their grasp at BT Murrayfield last night as they failed to turn their own pressure into points and fell to a late sucker punch when Connacht flanker was driven over from a lineout in the right corner to give the Irish side their second win of the season.

On a murky evening in the capital, it was a drab way to lose, especially as the home side should have wrapped the result up long before Faloon's score. Some of their players put in outstanding displays, none better than Cornell du Preez, but collectively too many were off-message and Connacht found it all too easy to disrupt them. It is no time for panic in Edinburgh ranks, but this was a desperately flat performance after their heroic win in Munster a week ago.

Edinburgh might also rue the fact that Gary Conway was in charge of the game. There were no signs of bias in Conway's display, but neither were there were many signs that he is remotely good enough to operate at this level as the match unfolded in an infuriatingly stop-start fashion, punctuated throughout by inconsistency and utterly mystifying decisions.

Having lost Dougie Fife and Tim Visser in the course of that victory in Limerick, and with a host of other injury issues among their outside backs, Edinburgh came into the game without a recognised winger in their lineup. However, with such a glut of possession in the early stages, their shortfall was not exactly obvious.

Indeed, both Nick McLennan, the full-back who was given the left wing berth, and Sam Beard, the centre who patrolled the opposite touchdown, both had gilt-edged chances in the opening quarter-hour, and with a little more luck they could easily have powered in for tries. The first chance had fallen to McLennan, who just failed to get to Jack Cuthbert's threaded kick before the ball went dead, while Beard was squeezed into touch on the right side a couple of minutes later.

Edinburgh's domination during that period was helped by some profligate play by Connacht, who struggled to string more than two or three phases together. Yet for all that they pasted the Irish side for territory and possession, Edinburgh's only impact on the scoreboard by the end of the first quarter had come from the two penalties Tom Heathcote had fired over. They were also, frankly, just a bit lucky to have even that advantage, as Connacht's Darragh Leader had also had a couple of penalty opportunities, but the full-back had sent both wide. That should have been a wake-up call for Edinburgh, but they gifted another penalty to their opponents in the 24th minute, and Leader made no mistake from short range. Emboldened by the points, Connacht then enjoyed their best period of pressure, although Edinburgh were again complicit in giving them the platform when McLennan and Cuthbert messed up a quick throw near their line and gifted Connacht a five-metre scrum. That chance was wasted when Connacht fly-half Jack Carty overcooked a grubber kick and Edinburgh cleared their lines. However, Connacht went on to dominate the rest of the second quarter, and parity was the least they were ue by the time it was established by another Leader penalty in the 38th minute.

Yet just when it seemed that Edinburgh would be heading to the dressing room for a half-time of painful reflection, they regained the initiative in superb fashion. Having returned to the Connacht 22 after a long absence, they hammered a path through a series of rucks, spread the ball right and then whipped it back to the left. Popping up in midfield, Beard launched a long pass to No.8 Du Preez, who dived over in the corner for a try. Heathcote's conversion put Edinburgh 13-6 ahead at the break.

It was clearly a comfort zone for the capital outfit, for there was a charge of confidence in their early second-half efforts. Du Preez, playing as well as he did in the early months of last season, made some eye-catching carries, including one down the right side that was followed by a beautifully disguised offload to Beard.

Again, though, Edinburgh could not capitalise, and again they allowed Connacht to get a toe back in the door that should long since have been blown off its hinges. With 54 minutes on the clock, Edinburgh conceded a scrum penalty and Leader punished them with another three points; more ominously, they also handed Connacht a personnel advantage as WP Nel was sin-binned for the offence.

To their credit, Edinburgh took no more damage on the scoreboard during Nel's absence, and were even given a boost just before his return when Faloon was yellow-carded for reckless footwork at a ruck. Yet Connacht also survived being a man short and Faloon returned to make his decisive contribution.