Edinburgh’s victory over Glasgow Warriors was a triumph of mind over matter, acknowledged victorious head coach Richard Cockerill, after a game which left a lot to be desired as an entertainment spectacle.

“I thought we were positive with the ball, positive with our mind-set, and if you are positive and keep having a crack then you end up with a win,” he said.

“There were parts we can improve on but it is about winning and that is what we did.

“If you like scrums and fierce defence, it was okay – but it wasn’t very exciting. It was a little bit turgid, wasn’t it?

“The conditions were good but it was wet and greasy on the field and that affected both sides, but these games are for winning and that is the most important thing.

“It was two sides that have not been on great form and it was all about four points tonight.”

Edinburgh remain fifth in PRO14 Conference B, but they are now only four points behind Cardiff Blues with two games in hand. After losing six out of their first eight games of the season, Cockerill says he is encouraged that his team appear to have found a way to grind out results, even when they are unable to find any fluidity in their play.

“We won at Sale Sharks two weeks ago and won again today, so that is two good sides we have beaten,” he said. “Winning is a good habit to get into, isn’t it?

“We will come in on Monday and look at a few things because we can play a lot better than that. We’ll definitely need to have a look at our line-out because they got the better of us there.

“But our scrum was good and we battled hard. In the second-row, Ben Toolis had not trained all week because of a foot injury but he fronted up well and played a full 80, which I am pleased with.”

Cockerill also defended the on-field decisions by his players to either kick to the corner or opt for the scrum, rather than go for the three points on offer when Glasgow conceded a series of penalties near their own line during the first half.

The home team did not manage to translate those close-range set-pieces into tries, and there was a danger that could come back to haunt them as the game moved into the final quarter with neither side having managed to trouble the scoreboard operator.

“It was only when Jaco van der Walt sent home a long-range penalty with 15 minutes to go that the deadlock was broken.

“To say our attack was blunt is unfair because we had them under pressure,” he said. “I thought the boys were brave to keep going for the corners and taking the scrums, and I felt we did not get the rewards that we deserved.

“I felt they were lucky not to end up with a bloke in the bin because they were penalised seven times at scrum-time without recourse.

“We just about deserved the win, and I am happy with the points, so we move on to next Friday now.”

The two sides meet again in the second leg of the 1872 Cup series at Scotstoun in five days’ time.