Edinburgh looked to extend their six match winning streak in the league when they visited Cardiff City Stadium on Friday night.
Edinburgh were looking lively in the opening minutes and looking to throw the ball around but some solid Blues defence kept them out.
However, the breakthrough soon came, after sustained pressure and Mark Robertson slipped a pass for MacDonald to cross with Paterson converting.
The Blues soon struck back after some sustained pressure with Blair converting an easy penalty. Edinburgh got another well worked try when they worked an overlap on the left and Tim Visser dived over. Paterson was again accurate with the boot.
A superb break from the base of the scrum by Xavier Rush saw the Blues break into the Edinburgh half, he was ably supported by Sowden-Taylor who passed on to Hewitt. After recycling the ball the Blues moved it left where Czekaj powered over for the home sides first try. Blair converted.
Half Time Cardiff Blues 10 Edinburgh 14
Edinburgh had a flying start early in the second half, when a cross field kick was gathered by Robertson who drew the last defender and passed to Paterson to score. He missed the relatively easy conversion. Blair soon struck a penalty back.
Paterson and Blair exchanged penalties to make the score Blues 16 Edinburgh 22 with 20 minutes of the game left.
The Blues didnt take the opportunity for 3 points and decided to kick for the corner from a penalty. After winning the line out they worked through the phases only for Edinburgh to turn the ball over and clear. It was a frustrating period for Blues supporters.
However, Gareth Thomas turned up trumps with a powerful run, brushing Edinburgh defenders aside and bulldozing his way over the line, to bring the Blues to within a point of the visitors. Blair missed the conversion, and much as last season, it would be another tense finish with 5 minutes to go. However the clock beat the Blues who went down Cardiff blues 21 Edinburgh 22.
Full Time Cardiff Blues 21 Edinburgh 22
Cardiff Blues
15. Ben Blair 14. Leigh Halfpenny 13. Gareth Thomas 12. Dafydd Hewitt 11. Chris Czekaj 10. Sam Norton-Knight 62 off 9. Gareth Cooper 75 off
8. Xavier Rush 7. Robin Sowden-Taylor 62off 6. Maama Molitika 5. Paul Tito 4. Bradley Davies 75 off 3. Gary Powell 2. Gareth Williams 60 off 1. Darren Morris 47off
16. Taufa'ao Filise 47 on 17. T Rhys Thomas 60 on 18. Scott Morgan 75 on 19. Sam Warburton 62 on 20. Richie Rees 75on 21. Ceri Sweeney 62on 22. Dafydd James
Edinburgh
15 Chris Paterson 14 Mark Robertson 13 Ben Cairns 12 John Houston 11 Tim Visser 10 Phil Godman 9 Greig Laidlaw
8 Allister Hogg (c) 7 Roddy Grant 6 Alan MacDonald 5 Scott MacLeod 4 Craig Hamilton 3 Geoff Cross 2 Andrew Kelly 1 Allan Jacobsen
16 Sean Crombie 17 Kyle Traynor 18 Steve Turnbull 19 Fraser McKenzie 20 Ross Samson 21 David Blair 22 Nick De Luca
Referee: Peter Fitzgibbon (IRFU).
Assistant Referees: David Bodilly (WRU), Gary Davies (WRU).
TMO: Neil Ballard (WRU)