Glasgow Warriors 17

Ulster 11

ULSTER’S RECENT REVIVAL came to a shuddering end as Glasgow Warriors came from behind at half time to snatch victory. The Irish side did hold out enough stop the Scots claiming a bonus point and they collected one themselves when John Cooney landed a penalty with the final kick of the game but it was not enough for the victory they needed.

The result leaves them third in the URC but Glasgow are only a point back and Munster are now also in range of catching them.

To be fair, it was not a great match. The weather had done its bit to make sure it was going to be a tough game for both sides. Fortunately Storm Otto had mostly blown itself out by kick off but it had left a bit of wind and cold rain to make conditions tricky and with both sides hammering into each other, it was hard for either of them to get things going.

The result was a low-scoring first half with Glasgow getting the first score through Simone Vailanu, the flanker, before a string of penalties against the home side gave the Irish a chance to get their game going. They made hard work of making the pressure count, one maul ending in an obstruction penalty, another drive stopped millimetres short and then getting over the line but unable to get the ball down.

In the end they did get there. Another penalty; another line out and this time the men in white got it right. They spun the maul and flanker Harry Sheridan was able to spin off and make his way to the line to earn his first ever try for the team.

Nathan Doak couldn’t make the conversion but made no mistake with a long range penalty on the stroke of half time to send his side into the changing room with a narrow lead.

Despite the wind dropping even more as Ulster turned to face it, it took some doughty defence to keep it that way through the third quarter but when Glasgow Warriors turned to their bench and the Test players they had held back in reserve, things began to change.

The home side spurned a kickable penalty and won the reward for their ambition when No8 Jack Dempsey broke off the back of the maul to score. There was some hope for Ulster as long as they were only two points down but when flanker Tom Gordon became the third player to break off a rolling maul and score, there was no way back, especially after Jordan finally found his kicking boots and added his first conversion.

For Ulster, there had been some bright spots in individual performances, with Tom Steward at hooker and Nick Timoney at No8 both showing up well. They could also take some pride in their defence after losing the possession battle by a long way, but in the end, it was not enough.

Cooney did rescue the losing bonus point when Glasgow gave away a penalty in front of their posts and Cooney ended the game by slotting the points, but it did little to lift the mood on a disappointing night for them.

Glasgow Warriors

Tries: Sione Vailanu, Jack Dempsey, Thomas Gordon

Con: Tom Jordan

Ulster

Try: Harry Sheridan

Pens: Nathan Doak, John Cooney

Glasgow Warriors: Josh McKay; Cole Forbes, Stafford McDowall (C), Sam Johnson, Ollie Smith; Tom Jordan (Duncan Weir, 67), Jamie Dobie (Ali Price, 56); Nathan McBeth (Jamie Bhatti, 56), Johnny Matthews (Fraser Brown, 56), Lucio Sordoni (Simon Berghan, 56), Lewis Bean, Scott Cummings (JP du Preez, 56), Thomas Gordon , Sione Vailanu (Euan Ferrie, 75), Jack Dempsey.

Ulster: Ethan McIlroy; Ben Moxham (Craig Gilroy, 56), James Hume (Luke Marshall, 76), Stewart Moore, Jacob Stockdale; Billy Burns, Nathan Doak (John Cooney, 50); Eric O’Sullivan (Rory Sutherland, 45), Tom Stewart (John Andrew, 61), Jeff Toomaga-Allen (Andy Warwick, 67), Alan O’Connor (C) (Cormac Izuchukwu, 67), Kieran Treadwell, Harry Sheridan, Jordi Murphy, Nick Timoney (Greg Jones, 61).

Referee: Craig Evans (Wales).