Edinburgh last night slumped to a 10th straight defeat, a run which has helped hasten the departure of coach Michael Bradley at the end of the season.
The latest loss came against Ospreys and carried the scar of the red card given to centre Nick De Luca.
The Scotland midfielder was responsible for a tip tackle and had few arguments about the red card. It was not deliberate and was more a question of misplaced determination, but it was a bad tackle and De Luca will spend a couple of months or so on the sidelines.
Edinburgh could take some consolation in stopping the Ospreys from getting a bonus point despite playing much of the second half with 14 men. They did show pride in that defence, but were not able to do enough with the ball to threaten the hosts.
In particular, the breakdown was a major area of concern against a side who are pushing hard for a top-four finish in the Rabo Direct Pro 12, last night's win enough to move Ospreys up into those places as they seek to defend the title they won in Dublin last year.
Edinburgh were put under the cosh early against a team that had not beaten Scottish opposition this season before last night. The Ospreys set about putting that right with No.8 Morgen Allen charging over from close range.
He clearly got a taste for try-scoring as it took only a few more minutes for him to do add his second, also barging his way over from short range after the rest of the Ospreys forwards had done all the softening up.
Matthew Morgan converted both tries, while Harry Leonard missed a kickable penalty for Edinburgh which could have narrowed the gap.
The visitors did manage to get on the scoreboard before half-time, when flanker Hamish Watson showed a neat turn of pace to go outside his man and score in the left-hand corner. Leonard duly converted.
If that gave Edinburgh hope of an upset, then their hopes were trampelled as the second half was mostly on-way traffic for the home team. Morgan missed a couple of penalties, but on the cold night the referee was warming up his yellow card after issuing a couple of final warnings to Sean Cox, the Edinburgh captain. Centre Ben Atiga was the next player to lie on the wrong side of a ruck and so he was given a yellow card, which opened the door for Ospreys to turn their pressure into points.
It was another period of forward pressure which gave a chance for scrum-half Rhys Webb to dive over from the side of a ruck to add the hosts' third try. Morgan converted and added a penalty as Ospreys started to chase the bonus point they need in their pursuit of a top-four place.
Edinburgh did manage the occasional breakout, while the arrival of replacements stiffened the defence, but that was small comfort.
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