URC: Ulster seal bonus point win in bruising Belfast battle

Ulster made it two wins from two at the Kingspan this evening as they took the spoils in the first Inter-Pro of the season - but only just.

Five tries to Connacht's four in a topy-turvy encounter that also saw a yellow card for each side and a red for the visitors late on, meant Ulster did just enough to get their second win of the campaign.

It was a typical battle against an as-expected dogged opponent, but despite making a host of errors, especially in the first half, Richie Murphy's side stood tall too haul themselves over he line.

Ulster got off to a perfect start as John Andrew forced his way over on the right, with John Cooney converting. However, it didn’t take long for the visitors to reply after a concerted period of pressure with Shayne Bolton diving over in the left corner, with Josh Ioane missing the conversion as Ulster held a 7-5 lead.

But, the hosts did take charge of matters with two tries in seven first half minutes to give themselves a good platform for the remainder of the opening period.

Their second of the evening arrived on 21 minutes with Jude Postlethwaite getting the verdict following a TMO review, but Cooney was unable to convert from the right

Then shortly before the half hour mark, Ulster got their third of the night with a perfect piece of opportunism from Cooney. He seized upon the loose ball on the ’22 to dance his way past two tackles and underneath the post. That led to an easy conversion against his former side to give Ulster a 14-point lead heading into the final stages of the half.

Having already lost captain Iain Henderson to a head injury – he was replaced by Alan O’Connor coming on for his 200th appearance for the province – they lost Werner Kok to a yellow card following needless tackling of a Connacht man in the air six minutes before the break.

Three minutes pripor to that though, Connacht had already hauled their way back into the match with Joe Joyce going over in the same corner as Bolton did for the first. Once again, Ioane once was inaccurate with the conversion.

They then closed the gap even further in first half stoppage time as Ben Murphy – son of Ulster Head Coach Richie – spotted a gap in the home defence after a line-out and showed electric pace to burn everyone off from 35 metres out to dot down. This time Ioane did convert to make it 19—15 at the interval.

The visitors though they had taken the lead for the first time three minutes after the restart as Sean O’Brien went over. But after a video replay, it was ruled out and that seemed to give Ulster the impetus to push further up the pitch.

Less than a minute after Connacht’s Josh Murphy had been sinbinned, Ulster made their numerical advantage count as David McCann got over in the corner. Cooney couldn’t convert as Ulster took a 24-17 lead.

But just a minute after the hour mark, Connacht got their fourth try of the match as replacement Dylan Tierney-Martin went over in the corner. And with Ioane converting to level matters at 24 points apiece, it made for an intriguing final 20 minutes.

With nine minutes of the 80 left, Connacht's Josh Murphy was shown a straight red card for a needless high challenge off the ball on Ulster's James McCormick. Cooney knocked over the resultant penalty to give his side a 27-24 lead with a man advantage.

They made that extra man count three minutes from time when Nick Timoney powered over in that left corner that had seen so many tries on the night. While Cooney was unable to convert, it left the home side with a 32-24 lead to see out.

All Connacht had to offer by way of reply in the time they had left was an Ioane penalty as Ulster got back to winning way following back-to-back defeats in South Africa.

Another tough test awaits in Belfast next Friday night as Ospreys come to town, but for now, Murhpy and his side will simply be happy to have got the better of what was a bruising Belfast battle.

MATCH STATS

Ulster: Warwick, Andrew, O’Toole, Henderson (C), Treadwell, McCann, Reffell, Timoney, Cooney, Morgan, Stockdale, Postlethwaite, Moore, Kok, McIlroy

Replacements: O’Connor for Henderson (15mins), Carson for Postlethwaite (33mins), McCormick for Andrew (52mins), Doak for Morgan (59mins), Marcus Rea for Reffell (60mins), Reid for Warwick (67mins), Barrett for O'Toole (71mins), Lowry for Moore (71mins)

Tries: Andrew, Postlethwaite, Cooney, McCann, Timoney

Conversions: Cooney (2)

Penalty: Cooney

Connacht: Buckley, Heffernan, Bealham, Joyce, J Murphy, Prendergast (C), Boyle, O’Brien, B Murphy, Ioane, Aki, O’Conor, Bolton, Cordero, Hansen

Replacements: Dooley for Buckley (56mins), Tierney -Martin for Heffernan (56mins), Blade for B Murphy (60mins), O’Connor for Boyle (60mins), Dowling for Joyce (60mins), Oliver for O’Brien (62mins). Lasisi for Bealham (67mins), Forde for Cordero (69mins)

Tries: Bolton, Joyce, B Murphy, Tierney-Martin

Conversions: Ioane (2)

Penalties: Ioane

Referee: Andy Brace