Wasp 36 Ulster 32
A late Alex King penalty sealed a narrow victory for Wasps after Ulster mounted a stunning fightback. The result puts a massive dent in Ulster’s Heineken Cup ambitions.
King kicked five penalties and three conversions as Wasps - already out of the competition - avenged October's 42-19 humiliation at Ravenhill.
With only a minute played Ulster opened the scoring with a long-range penalty from fly-half David Humphreys but two minutes later his opposite number King levelled the scores with a penalty from 22 metres.
Fired-up Ulster relied heavily on Humphreys and in the eighth minute his penalty attempt sailed to the right of the upright, although he made amends seven minutes later with a powerful penalty from 30 metres.
Wasps, depleted by injuries but looking dangerous, made the breakthrough in the 16th minute with captain Mark Denney scoring a try on the right, converted by King.
Humphreys, struggling with an ankle problem, was taken off injured shortly after seeing a long-range penalty land in the arms of Wasps hooker Trevor Leota.
However, full-back Paddy Wallace had better luck after 22 minutes, pulling the White Knights back into contention but the scores did not stay close for long as Wasps began to open a daunting lead.
King added two further penalties before Wasps winger Shane Roiser collected the ball in the 33rd minute and crashed over for a try, converted by King, and Wasps went into half-time with a 26-12 advantage.
The Wasps onslaught continued after the break when Fraser Waters intercepted a Wallace pass to touch down.
Looking dead and buried, Ulster were badly in need of inspiration and it arrived in the 57th minute thanks to Andy Ward. Ulster broke down the left and the skipper refused to give up, claiming a try and Wallace converting as the Irish desperately looked for a way back into the match.
Given the impetus they needed, in the 63rd minute Ulster charged down the field with Ryan Constable taking on the try-scoring duties, leaving Wallace to convert and close the gap to just four points.
The home side were reduced to 14 men following the sin-binning of lock Ian Jones in the 70th minute and a minute later Wallace scored a drop goal, leaving just one point between the teams.
But two minutes from time King secured victory for the English side, slotting home a short-range penalty and leaving Ulster’s European hopes hanging by a thread.