Connacht fight back not enough as Ulster claim victory in Belfast
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Despite a spirited comeback, victory was a step too far for Connacht as Ulster claimed the spoils in a thrilling night of entertainment at the Kingspan on Saturday.
Pete Wilkins’ side at one stage sat 14 points adrift with the score at 19-5. But clawed their way back to level the game with 20 minutes to go.
However, after Josh Murphy was given his marching orders for a high shot in the 71st minute, John Cooney slotted the resulting penalty and the win was secured with a Nick Timoney try.
Connacht did leave Belfast with 2 match points though after securing the 4 try bonus point and a Josh Ioane penalty in the last action of the match to guarantee a losing bonus point.
First-half
The game began at a ferocious tempo with Ulster scoring after two minutes when John Andrew dotted down at the back of a driving maul. However, it did not take Connacht long to reply as Shayne Bolton ran in a try after a lovely 25 yard skip pass from Ioane.
Jude Postlethwaite bundled over the Ulster try line on 20 minutes. The try was awarded after a brief consultation between referee Andrew Brace and the TMO.
Ulster then began to really impose themselves on the game 7 minutes later when John Cooney inside the 22 picked the ball from the base of the ruck and sniped through Connacht’s defence to score under the posts.
However, once again Connacht wasted no time in replying as they went back down to the Ulster line and Joe Joyce bundled over with a maul try of their own.
From the resulting restart, Werner Kok was given 10 minutes in the sin bin after taking Josh Murphy out in the air.
The game looked to be petering out to the break in half until Ben Murphy dummied off of a lineout and seared through the Ulster rearguard in a brilliant bit of invention to break the heart of his father and Ulster head coach Richie Murphy.
Second-half
The game continued in similar fashion after the break with Connacht having a try initially awarded and then chalked off after Sean O’Brien was deemed to have been held up.
Another yellow was brandished by Brace, this time to Josh Murphy and not long after Ulster scored from a rolling maul once again. With Dave McCann crossing over and securing the bonus point in the process.
It really was tit for tat in respect of maul tries and it was sub hooker Dylan Tierney-Martin’s turn as he broke off the back of the Connacht maul to dot down.
Josh Ioane added the extras and after chasing for an hour Connacht were level with 20 minutes left on the clock.
The tension was palpable going into the final quarter.
Connacht were the first to blink as Josh Murphy, back after his earlier yellow card, broke out of the defensive line and shouldered Ulster replacement hooker James McCormick to the head. Referee Brace had no option but to show the red card.
John Cooney was the man to step up and, as he so often does, delivered at the crucial moment. There was still enough time for one more maul try and Nick Timoney got his name on the scoresheet and put daylight between themselves and the westerners.
Connacht kept going however, and the pack won a scrum penalty inside the 22 and Josh Ioane slotted it over to close out a superb interpro.
URC standings and fixtures
For Ulster the victory brings them into the top half of the table at 8th. After two losses in South Africa a 5 point interpro win is exactly what the doctor ordered.
They are back at Ravenhill on Friday night for the visit of Ospreys and will look to build on this momentum.
For Connacht, the 2 bonus points acquired could be crucial given the nature of the league and how tight it tends to be come the end of the season.
They are in 5th place and can be happy with their start to the season. Their two losses being away derbies in which they battled and on other days could’ve came away with victories.
However, it doesn’t get any easier as they welcome Leinster to the Sportsground this coming Saturday. With Leinster fresh from their own superb interpro win over Munster in Croke Park, Connacht will have a huge challenge on their hands.
Line ups
ULSTER: E McIlroy, W Kok, S Moore, J Postlethwaite, J Stockdale, A Morgan, J Cooney; A Warwick, J Andrew, T O’Toole, I Henderson (captain), K Treadwell, D McCann, S Reffell, N Timoney.
Replacements: J McCormick for J Andrew 53mins, C Reid for A Warwick 66mins, C Barrett for O’Toole 70mins, A O’Connor for I Henderson 14mins, Marcus Rea for S Reffell 60mins, N Doak for A Morgan 58mins, B Carson for J Postlethwaite 31mins, M Lowry for S Moore 73mins.
CONNACHT: S Cordero, M Hansen, P O’Conor, B Aki, S Bolton, J Ioane, B Murphy, D Buckley, D Heffernan, F Bealham, J Joyce, J Murphy, C Prendergast (capt), S O’Brien, P Boyle.
Replacements: D Tierney-Martin for D Heffernan 56mins, P Dooley for D Buckley 56mins, T Lasisi for F Bealham 11 mins, 66mins, O Dowling for J Joyce 61mins, D O’Connor for P Boyle 61mins, C Blade for B Murphy 63mins, C Forde for S Cordero 68mins , C Oliver for S O’Brien 63mins.
Referee: A Brace (IRFU)
