Ulster 'A' come out on top in Mullingar

Ulster 'A' 28 Connacht 'A' 12:Ulster 'A' ran in four tries as they denied their Connacht counterparts 28-12 in Mullingar this afternoon where the competitive encounter also produced five yellow cards.

Ulster led 14-7 at the break courtesy of tries from flanker Thomas Anderson and secondrow Filo Paulo in response to one from Johnny O’Connor, who was playing his first match in a Connacht jersey since December.

Referee David Keane handed out three yellow cards in the opening period with Ulster pair, Willie Faloon and Declan Fitzpatrick, both receiving yellow, while Connacht prop Ronan Loughney was also binned.

The other Connacht prop John Lyne also saw yellow in the second-half along with Ulster try-scorer Anderson in a lively encounter.

Darren Cave increased Ulster’s lead in the third quarter before Connacht hit back with a try from John Hearty.

But Ulster finished strongly with Faool getting their fourth try as Bryn Cunningham again added the points at the end of a useful game for both sides.

Scoring sequence:

Ulster: Tries: Anderson, Paulo, Cave, Faloon, Cons: Cunningham (4)

Connacht: Tries: O'Connor, Hearty, Cons: Dunne

Teams:

Ulster: B Cunningham; T Seymour, A Trimble, I Whitten, J Smith; D Cave, C Willis; J Fitzpatrick, N Hanna, D Fitzpatrick; F Paulo, R Caldwell; T Anderson, W Faloon, D Pollock.

Replacements: I Boss for Seymour, 12mins; B Young for J Fitzpatrick, 53mins; E O'Donaghue for Paulo, 61mins; N Brady for Hanna, 65mins; N Hanna for D Fitzpatrick, 69mins; D Roache for Faloon, 69mins.

Connacht: T Nathan; R Keatley, J Hearty, M Deane, M Roberts; A Dunne, C O'Loughlin; J Lyne, C Muldoon, R Loughney; M Swift, D Nolan; D Gannon, J O'Connor, J Moran.

Replacements: J O'Brien for Keatley, 14mins; C Higgins for Moran, 34mins; N McCarthy for O'Connor, 36mins; J Moran for Higgins, 40mins; C Higgins for Moran, 51 mins; L Scahill for Higgins, 64mins; S Carey for Hearty, 69mins; A Kennedy for O'Loughlin, A Gaughan for Dunne, A O'Sullivan for Muldoon, all 73mins; C Higgins for Lyne, 78mins.

Referee: David Keane