Ulster fired up as Leinster take foot off the gas

Ulster ... 17 Leinster ... 13: This was no game for heroics from the likes of Denis Hickie, Brian O'Driscoll or Shane Horgan. In match-making language, it was a fixture for Irish selectors to see who could punch their weight at a higher level, a chance for the players to get a competitive run-out and for Ulster an opportunity for the 6,000 or so fans to cheer the 'White Knights' along in their last game of the season. Johnny Watterson reports from Ravenhill

Therein lay the shortcomings and appeal. It was a match for some players who had little to prove to the watching Declan Kidney and Brian O'Brien. For others it was a match where they hoped to show something eyecatching and for the home team it was an opportunity to beat what their South African coach Alan Solomons called the best of the four provincial teams.

With Nathan Spooner given his first start and stretchered off concussed after a rhino charge from Shane Stewart after 16 minutes, David Quinlan failing a late fitness test for a thigh complaint and Leinster forward's coach Willy Anderson with his Ulster heart and Leinster mind probably in different places, there were a few nuggets to digest.

But the opening 25 minutes of the match failed to excite the home crowd as the players eased their way gently into the game. Brian O'Meara's two penalties to one from David Humphreys were the sum total of a featureless first quarter. Then as Ulster came to realise that this was fortress Ravenhill, the bite and bullock and no small degree of menace filtered through as they pressed Leinster into their own 22.

When Keith Gleeson was then sin-binned on 33 minutes for stopping the ball coming out, Ulster made hay. Ryan Constable sparkled in possession while on 35 minutes Adam Larkin side-stepped Spooner's replacement Matthew Leek for the first try with David Humphreys converting for a 10-6 lead.

Seven minutes later Jim Topping combined with Neil Doak and captain Andy Ward, who flicked up to Stewart for Ulster's second try as Leinster struggled without Gleeson's graft.

When the open side returned so too did parity although Ulster, with the crowd lifting them, continued to look more seriously interested in winning.

Humphreys largely orchestrated with his boot but when Jeremy Davidson was yellow-carded on the hour, it looked like a viable opportunity for Leinster.

But in Davidson's absence Leinster failed to prosper as Ulster had. It took another 10 minutes for a score to register and that only arrived after a Humphreys's mis-kick bounced to the worst possible person. O'Driscoll gathered on the left and dived over with O'Meara converting to trail by four points 17-13.

There it ended. Doubtlessly a worthwhile run out before the Six Nations Championship begins in Scotland in two weeks' time but whether Kidney or O'Brien learned anything they didn't already know is unlikely.

SCORING SEQUENCE

10 mins: B'O'Meara pen 0-3

13 mins: B O'Meara pen 0-6

23 mins: D Humphreys pen 3-6

35 mins: A Larkin try, Humphreys con 10-6

40 mins: S Stewart try, Humphreys con 17-6

Half-time: Ulster 17, Leinster 6

70 mins: B O'Driscoll try, O'Meara con 17-13

ULSTER: B Cunningham; J Topping, S Stewart, A Larkin, R Constable; D Humphreys, N Doak; R Kempson, M Sexton, S Best, G Longwell, J Davidson, A Ward (captain), N McMillan T McWhirter. Replacements: J Fitzpatrick for Best and P Shields for Sexton 40 mins; R Nelson for McWhirter 63 mins.

LEINSTER: G D'arcy; D Hickie, B O'Driscoll, S Horgan, P McKenna; N Spooner, B O'Meara; R Corrigan (captain), S Byrne, P Coyle, A McCullen, M O'Kelly, E Miller, K Gleeson, V Costello. Replacements: M Leek for Spooner 16 mins; B Gissing for McCullen 63 mins; G Hickie for Byrne 67 mins; C Boyd for Costello 69 mins

Referee: A Rolland (IRFU).