So near, yet so far for Edinburgh Rugby as their United Rugby Championship play-off hopes took a major blow after losing 18-17 to Sharks at Hive Stadium. In a gripping and often tempestuous clash with the Springbok-laden South African side, Edinburgh led for the majority of the match before being floored by the ultimate sucker punch when, in the last action, Makazole Mapimpi scored a try in the corner to give the visitors victory. It was a cruel denouement for Sean Everitt's Edinburgh team, who fronted up valiantly against a Sharks team boasting 12 South Africa internationalists in their first XV. Flanker Jamie Ritchie was outstanding throughout but the hosts will rue not taking their chances. Seventh-placed Edinburgh are now at the mercy of results elsewhere this weekend and are likely to slip out of the top eight of the URC by Saturday night. They have three matches remaining - away to Zebre, away to Connacht and at home to Ulster - to go one better than last season and be involved in the knock-out phase. James Lang, Ritchie and Ewan Ashman all crossed the whitewash for Edinburgh. The Sharks played passively at times and were error-strewn for much of the contest, yet their winning mentality came to the fore when it really mattered. They are set to finish in the top four and celebrated wildly at the end following Mapimpi's try. Edinburgh suffered a blow an hour before kick-off when ever-present full-back Wes Goosen was pulled out of the first XV due to back injury. Mosese Tuipulotu was summoned from the bench, enforcing a complete restructure of the backline. Tuipulotu slotted in at 12, Lang moved to outside centre, Matt Currie went on to the wing and Harry Paterson switched to full-back. It was to Edinburgh's credit that they did not let Goosen's absence affect them too much, even if Sharks posted the first points of the contest on four minutes when Jordan Hendrikse belted over the penalty from just inside the Edinburgh half. Edinburgh settled nicely thereafter and scored the game's opening try on 12 minutes. After patient build-up, the ball was fed wide out to centre Lang and he finished impeccably in the corner with a leaping effort over the scrambling Sharks defence. Ross Thompson missed the tricky conversion but the hosts led 5-3. Sharks had been well beneath their best level in the opening 20 minutes but Edinburgh suffered a further injury blow when winger Ross McCann, who had started the game in lively fashion, was forced off. Jack Brown came on for only his second appearance for the club, the 19-year-old slotting in on the wing. Edinburgh bagged their second try of the night on 27 minutes through Ritchie. The ball was fed out to the wide right again and the flanker exchanged passes with Matt Currie before crossing in the corner. Once again, Thompson was unsuccessful with the conversion as Edinburgh led 10-3. Sharks took a bite out of the deficit with a penalty on 38 minutes from Hendrikse and despite Edinburgh playing good rugby and being the stronger side, they went into the sheds only holding a four-point advantage. That was to prove costly just two minutes into the second half. Everitt will rue how easy it was for the visitors to slice through the Edinburgh defence with their first foray of note. Lukhanyo Am drove through Sam Skinner's tackle and played Aphelele Fassi in to score, with Hendrikse adding the extras to make it 13-10. Any momentum Sharks built evaporated when Fassi failed to scoop the ball up close to his tryline on 46 minutes. Magnus Bradbury pounced and the visitors coughed up a penalty, with Am yellow-carded and hooker Bongi Mbongani replaced due to injury. Sharks infringed again and then Eben Etzebeth and Skinner clashed, sparking a rammy involving almost every player on the pitch. The duo were both sin-binned for their troubles. Edinburgh didn't hang around to take advantage. From the next play, Ashman drove over and the hosts were back in front 17-13 as Thompson converted. The game entered an attritional phase, Sharks keen to slow the game down to regain numerical parity. Brown - who fared well considering his inexperience - could have given Edinburgh the win right at the end but failed to ground, held up by Ethan Hooker, and the Sharks raced up the other end to set up one final attack of their own. The ball was fed out to Mapimpi and he broke home hearts.