| Ulster 27 Connacht 16 | |||||
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Ulster were first off the mark when some slick hands by Ruan Pienaar slipped Rory Best in under the posts after just 6 minutes. Ian Humphreys added the conversion. Connacht got stuck straight back in and good pressure from Eoin Griffin forced Adam D’Arcy into touch inside his own 22. Connacht won advantage from the lineout and Ian Keatley dropped a goal to bring it to 7-3 after 10 minutes. Indiscipline at the lineout from Ulster allowed Connacht’s Troy Nathan boot the ball back into the Ulster half. Connacht had the majority of possession but 2 stray lineouts from Hooker Sean Cronin let Ulster gain momentum and territory but some fierce counter-rucking from the Connacht pack forced centre Nevin Spence to give away a penalty on his own 10m line. Ian Keatley’s kick drifted just wide of the posts but a clever grubber through was just about collected by Craig Gilroy on his own line with Fionn Carr breathing down his neck. With 15 minutes remaining in the first half Connacht’s attack really took shape, big carries from Sean Cronin and Mike McCarthy left room on the outside for Ian Keatley to draw the defence in enough for Fionn Carr to speed down the wing. Troy Nathan’s crossfield kick was very nearly collected by Michael Swift but the slightest knockon was picked up by referee JP Doyle. Connacht’s forwards were winning the contest at the breakdown with dominance in the scrum and at the breakdown but the Ulster defence held firm. With 2 players down receiving treatment referee JP Doyle allowed Ulster to take a quick tap penalty inside their own 22m. Quick hands sent Adam D’Arcy over the Connacht try line, Ian Humphreys converting to put some daylight between the two sides wit 5 minutes left in the first half. Cynical play after the ball was played by Ruan Pienaar gave Troy Nathan the chance to clear the Connacht half. Further indiscipline at the breakdown gave Ian Keatley a chance at goal. Just inside the Ulster half he kicked the ball low and hard and brought the halftime score to Ulster 14, Connacht 6 3 Minutes into the second half captain Rory Best couldn’t resist playing the ball on the ground but Ian Keatley’s kick bounced back off the posts and was cleared by Pienaar. Still inside the Ulster half Dan Tuohy was penalised for not releasing the player and Keatley stood up for the kick. No mistake this time as the score was brought to Ulster 14 Connacht 9. 2 minutes later Connacht were penalised for the same offence and Ian Humphreys duly slotted the points. A quick lineout on the Ulster 10m line saw first Troy Nathan then Ian Keatley burst through gaps to put Sean Cronin through for a try. The speedy hooker showed great pace to sprint in from the 22m and give Ian Keatley a simple conversion. Ulster 17 Connacht 16 after 50 minutes with Connacht playing all the rugby. The next 10 minutes saw Connacht soak up wave after wave of Ulster attack and they held their own territory with superb talking and counter-rucking from captain Johnny O’Connor, Jamie Hagan and Mike McCarthy to name a few. Centre Eoin Griffin and wing Tiernan O’Halloran were speedy in attack and solid in defence and Gavin Duffy was ever secure under the high ball. The final quarter saw Ulster retain possession and with the penalty count increasing Ian Humphreys kicked a penalty under the Connacht posts to put 4 points between them with 10 minutes to go. An Ulster penalty with 5 minutes left gave them a lineout just outside the Connacht 5m line. With only minutes to go Ulster were awarded a scrum 5m out. Ulster opted for the scrum and a quick backline move saw Darren Cave cross for his second try of the night. Humphreys converted to move Ulster to 27 points and they nearly scored a bonus point when Ian Humphreys showed the Connacht defence a clean pair of heals only for Eoin Griffin to bring the outhalf down with a try saving tackle on the 10m line and the score finished Ulster 27 Connacht 16 Connacht: 1 B Wilkinson, 2 S Cronin, 3 J Hagan, 4 M Swift, 5 B Upton, 6 M McCarthy, 7 J O’Connor ©, 8 J Muldoon, 9 F Murphy, 10 I Keatley, 11 F Carr, 12 T Nathan, 13 N Ta’auso, 14 E Griffin, 15 G Duffy Replacements: 16 A Flavin, 17 R Loughney, 18 R Ah You, 19 A Browne, 20 M McComish 21 C Willis, 22 M Nikora, 23 T O’Halloran Ulster: 1 P McAllister, 2 R Best, 3 J Cronin, 4 J Muller, 5 D Tuohy, 6 C Henry, 7 W Faloon, 8 P Wannenburg, 9 R Pienaar, 10 I Humphreys, 11 S Danielli, 12 N Spence, 13 D Cave, 14 C Gilroy, 15 A D’arcy Replacements: 16 A Kyriacou, 17 B Young, 18 A Macklin, 19 T Barker, 20 R Diack, 21 P Marshall, 22 I Whitten, 23 C Gaston |
| Last Updated ( Friday, 22 April 2011 19:54 ) |  |
