Ulster beaten, but Cup future is secure

Ulster 24 Glasgow 35

Saturday, May 03, 2008

GLASGOW inflicted Ulster's first defeat at Ravenhill under new coach Matt Williams yesterday € but the province is still guaranteed Heineken Cup rugby next season.

Connacht's 39-11 defeat to Cardiff at the Sportsground last night left Ulster safe in the race for Ireland's third Heineken Cup spot, but Williams will have been fuming at seeing his side surrender their five-match winning streak at home.

Ulster at least managed to pick up a bonus point for scoring four tries in what was a highly entertaining contest, but it was Glasgow, despite briefly letting a 10-point lead slip in the second half, who finished the game in control, with late touchdowns by Thom Evans and two penalties by Dan Parks sealing Ulster's fate.

Despite playing with the advantage of a blustery wind, Ulster trailed 15-12 at the break with Glasgow scoring tries by Lome Fa'atau and Johnnie Beattie, both against the run of play, with Parks also slotting a conversion and penalty.

Ulster had dominated possession and territory in the first half but could only carve out tries by Isaac Boss and Roger Wilson.

In sunny but blustery conditions, Ulster began brightly enough, mixing a kicking game with a running game, but it was the visitors who struck first, albeit against the run of play, with a superbly crafted try.

Flanker Kelly Brown won a turnover inside his 22, Bernardo Stortoni launched a counter-attack and his well-placed chip was collected by Max Evans who instantly fed Fa'atau and the big wing raced over from the halfway line in the seventh minute, with Parks slotting the conversion.

Parks upped the pressure on the home side when he converted a 10th minute penalty to extend the lead to 10 points.

Ulster desperately needed a swift response to get themselves back into the game and with Justin Harrison providing a constant source of good line-out possession, the home side struck back in style with Boss sniping over from close range in the the 17th minute after some direct running by Rob Dewey and Roger Wilson. Wallace added the simple conversion.

It was all Ulster now, and with Neil Best, Harrison and Dewey again making hard yards and Wallace eager to release his runners, Glasgow spent the next period fighting a rearguard action.

Ulster edged in front when Wilson barged over, again from close range for his side's second try in the 24th minute.

But five minutes later, and again from nowhere, Glasgow regained the lead when No 8 Beattie held off a cover tackle by Tommy Bowe after centre Graeme Morrison had brushed off a midfield tackle by Matt McCullough.

Back came Ulster but despite a number of late surges, they couldn't find the precision to convert the chances into points.

With Ulster forced to play into the wind in the second half, the imperative was to keep the ball in hand but when Boss failed to find touch, Max Evans scorched over for Glasgow's third try in the 44th minute from Fa'atau's pass.

The 10-point deficit looked ominous for Ulster but to their credit, they rolled up their sleeves and with a pick and go game worked themselves into the Glasgow 22, with Wilson going close again.

Glasgow's desperate defending saw Moray Low shown a yellow card and Ulster turned the screw, with Simon Danielli touching down in the corner in the 62nd minute from Bryn Cunningham's blindside pass of the base of a scrum.

And the game turned on its head when Tommy Bowe gathered a neat chip by Boss following a big charge by Tom Court and the wing raced over from the halfway line for a stunning score in the 64th minute to claim their bonus point. Wallace's conversion nudged Ulster back in front.

Yet from the restart, Glasgow once again made Ulster pay for indiscipline, with Parks slotting his second penalty in the 68th minute.

And as Ulster tried to force the play from too deep, Glasgow landed the killer blow when Parks gathered his own chip ahead into the home side's 22 and he fed Beattie for the No 8 to put away Thom Evans to race over for the decisive score. Parks added the conversion.

Ulster were now two scores behind and even a yellow card for John Barclay could not prevent the visitors pushing on for victory, with Parks slotting his third penalty to kill the game off.