IF Edinburgh were left kicking themselves for this defeat then they might have missed, two kicks proving crucial in this narrow defeat.

It was match which turned into an arm wrestle after Edinburgh had built a comfortable lead and missed opportunities to extend it even further, though the losing bonus point will provide some consolation in time.

But in the nip and tuck exchanges at the end, a charged down conversion from outside half Jaco van der Walt from close range handed the edge to the home team.

That meant a couple of Stephen Myler penalties opened up a four point gap, which would be crucial in the final stages.

Edinburgh earned a kickable penalty in the closing two minutes, but had to go for try – a problem which was compounded when wing Emiliano Boffelli kicked the ball dead instead of setting up the lineout on the line.

Lineout drives had been a profitable area for Edinburgh all evening, so they would have felt they could still have snatched victory up until that point.

All of which meant prop Boan Venter had the strange feeling of scoring his first hat-trick in professional rugby and ending up on the losing side.

Indiscipline was also a big problem as Edinburgh gave away too many penalties throughout the match with Myler enjoying a perfect record with the boot to score 13 of his side’s points.

“We are really disappointed, we did enough to win – certainly in the first half – putting them under a lot of pressure with our kicking game,” said head coach Mike Blair afterwards.

“We had the upper hand with the Ospreys not challenging us when playing from deeper, so I was disappointed that in the second half we gave them some easy ins.

“These things happen (the missed kicks), there were elements through the game we could have done better, we gave too many penalties away and could have been penalised for a couple of others as well.

“It does not come down to one thing, but I thought we had found weaknesses in the opposition but did not stick to that.

“It can be a bit mixed when you have guys coming back in but that is not an excuse, we had a team out there which could have won the game, but we did not execute.”

Edinburgh were missing more players on international duty than the Ospreys, but also had the confidence of a team who started the game with a comfortable lead at the top of the table against opponents who have been struggling of late.

Edinburgh started with their usual variety in attack, but were under enough pressure in the scrum that territory was proving hard to keep.

It meant plenty of control in the opening period without threatening any points, until the scrum penalties started going their way for illegal binding as Ospreys loosehead Nicky Smith strove too hard for dominance.

With more than 20 minutes on the clock a key turning point came when Ospreys second row Lloyd Ashley was yellow carded for deliberate blocking of Edinburgh wing Darcy Graham chasing a routine up and under.

While Ashley looked puzzled on the sidelines, Edinburgh knew just what to do on the pitch – a kick to the corner, a driving lineout and prop Boan Venter was able to force his way over the try line from close range.

Better was to come almost from the restart with Venter again the provider, this time from around 10 yards out as he staggered his way past the tacklers to score near the posts.

Maybe lock Marshall Sykes could have tried the same as he charged towards the line, instead he opted for a pass and the effort was intercepted.

Ospreys outside half Stephen Myler landed a penalty, also while his side were down to 14, as all the first half scoring came in that concentrated burst.

It did not take long after half-time for the Ospreys to narrow the gap, full back Mat Protheroe in support of the half break by centre Michael Collins after penalties has allowed the home side to work their way upfield.

Edinburgh conceded field position again as a late tackle by Mesu Kunavula resulted in a kick to the corner and an attacking lineout. A slick move at the front seeing hooker Sam Parry burst over in the corner, with Myler adding the conversion from the wide angle.

A series of lineouts near the Ospreys line eventually put the visitors back in front with Venter getting his hat-trick, this time going back to the short range barge part of his repertoire. Van der Walt had his simple conversion charged down.

That meant a Myler penalty from 40 yards allowed the Ospreys to get their noses back in front as the game went into the final 10 minutes.

That built up scoreboard pressure, which grew when Myler added another penalty to put his side four points ahead. Boffelli’s missed kick to the corner proved the final chance for Edinburgh as the Ospreys closed out the game to end a run of five successive defeats.