Ulster 18-13 Clermont

John Cooney put in a spectacular individual performance as Ulster beat Clermont Auvergne 18-13 in the European Champions Cup.

The scrum half scored a stunning second half try to add to his first half haul of 2 penalties and a conversion from Jordi Murphy's score.

Ulster made an explosive start to a game in which they looked in control for long periods, winning their own kickoff which resulted in a 3rd minute penalty that was easily knocked over by Cooney from just outside the 22.

5 minutes later, the scrum half looked almost certain to score after Stuart McCloskey found him with an offload having gathered Billy Burns' chip-kick, but he lost the ball in the tackle just 5 metres short.

Cooney then kicked deep into the Clermont half from a penalty, and with the Ulster pressure mounting, the province won yet another penalty. They elected to kick for touch rather than take the 3 points, and it was a decision that led to the opening try.

The pack rumbled over in a swift rolling maul on the back of the 17th minute lineout, and after a quick consultation with the TMO the ref decided that Murphy had grounded the ball for Ulster, with Cooney adding the extras.

There was no reply from the French until the 33rd minute when Greig Laidlaw slotted a penalty from 30 metres, but Cooney restored the 10-point lead with another kick of his own 3 minutes before the break.

The pace of the game dropped off in the second half, and it took until the hour for Laidlaw to kick another penalty to pull his side back to within 7 points of Ulster, but Cooney quickly extended the lead with a superb piece of individual skill.

In the 62nd minute, the scrum half slipped away down the blind side, chipping the Clermont fullback before diving on the ball to score a fantastic solo effort that made it 18-6 to the home side.

With 9 minutes to go, waves of Clermont pressure left Ulster struggling, and the ref had no option but to award a penalty try to set up a tense finish to the game with only 5 points between the 2 sides.

Some valiant Ulster defence saw them hang on for the remaining minutes to claim an important win over the French visitors.