URC: Cool Cooney seals stunning Ulster win

Ulster made it four wins in a row and booked their spot in the URC play-offs with the stunning win over inter-pro rivals Leinster at a raucous Kingspan.

Despite dominating the first half, they found themselves four behind at the break, but Joh Cooney did what he does best, coolly slotting over a long-range penalty at the death to seal a 23-21 win.

It was no more than Richie Murphy’s men deserved for their hard work and on the balance of play throughout.

While a weakened Leinster had eyes on next weekend’s Champions Cup Final, they still fielded some of their star names for the trip to Belfast, but it mattered little as Ulster got over the line in their final home game of the season.

A rip-roaring opening 15 minutes saw Ulster denied tries on two occasions.

There was a gig moment inside two minutes, when a superb charge down from Mike Lowry saw him chase the ball to the try line. He felt he had got his hand on it but, after consulting the TMO, Referee Andrea Piardi ruled no try.

An almost identical scenario occurred less than three minutes later, involving Lowry once more.

Again, he thought he had done the job in the corner, but again Piardi ruled no try. Two huge calls from the officials inside the opening five minutes, but a very good start from Ulster

They did eventually get the lead their dominance deserved on 16 minutes and again it was another TMO referral that was required – this one going their way.

Rob Herring powered himself over the line and was adjudged to have grounded the ball before John Cooney converted.

However, it took just seven minutes for the visitors to get back on level terms and it was a try concession all of Ulster’s own making.

Midway inside his own half, Billy Burns' kick was charged down by Will Connors, who offloaded to Charlie Ngatai and got over under the posts to allow Harry Byrne an easy conversion

Ulster really should have regained their lead two minutes later when Will Addison broke the line. But despite having the opportunity to offload to players on his right, he opted to go himself and was held up Hugo Keenan.

Then Leinster took the lead for the first time just before the half hour mark.

Ireland full-back Keenan, on his return from injury, evaded a Cooney tackle on the left wing before offloading to Cormac Foley, who had all the freedom of Belfast breaks to stride over the line and give Byrne the easiest of tasks to convert.

The remainder of the half became very much stop start, with Leinster happy to break up play, knowing they were in front very much against the run of things as they took a 14-10 lead to the interval after Cooney had knocked over a close-range penalty.

Just two minutes into the second period, the same player repeated the feat from further out to bring Ulster back to just a single point behind.

But that lead was soon extended to eight on 53 minutes as Michael Ala'alatoa forced his way over following a concerted period of pressure before made it three from three with the conversion.

Then came the loudest moment of the night up until that point.

Jacob Stockdale produced a superb intercept just outside his own ’22 and right on the touchline to race close to 70 yards and dot down. Cooney then split the posts with a tricky conversion to put Ulster 21-20 behind.

As Ulster pushed and pushed to get the points that would put them in front, they just came up short on numerous occasions.

But when they were awarded a penalty on 77 minutes just a couple of yards inside the Leinster half, there was only one man for the job.

Step up John Cooney, a man so revered by the Ulster fans, mainly for moments like these. And once again, he didn’t disappoint, with that trusty right boot doing the business once again.

MATCH STATS

Ulster: O’Sullivan, Herring, O’Toole, Treadwell, O’Connor (C), Izuchukwu, McCann, Timoney, Cooney, Burns, Stockdale, McCloskey, Addison, Lowry, McIlroy

Replacements: Stewart, Warwick, Wilson, Sheridan, Matty Rea, Doak, Moore, Postlethwaite

Tries: Herring, Stockdale

Conversions: Cooney (2)

Penalties: Cooney (3)

Leinster: Healy, Kelleher, Ala’alatoa, Deeny, Ryan (C), Deegan, Connors, Conan, Foley, Byrne, Russell, Ngatai, J O’Brien, T O’Brien, Keenan

Replacements: McKee, Milne, Clarkson, R Molony, Penny, McGrath, Prendergast, Brownlee for Ngatai (25mins)

Tries: Ngatai, Foley, Ala’alatoa

Conversions: Byrne (3)

Referee: Andrea Piardi