Ulster 24 Scarlets 17:IT WAS another of those visceral nights at Ravenhill, both for the weather and the fare on show but at least it saw Ulster crucially grab the win they needed to keep their faltering league campaign just about on track.
Stephen Ferris grabbed all the attention with two trademark tries which saw him smash his way over in either half, while Ian Humphreys, on what was hardly a vintage night, kicked 14 points as Ulster fought back after falling 10-0 down in the first quarter.
Mind you, Ulster wobbled badly at the start and at the end against a weakened Scarlets, who arrived in Belfast on an eight-game winning run, and the late binning of replacement prop Adam Macklin seconds after entering the fray for lying on the ball – after referee Alain Rolland had warned Ulster – allowed the Scarlets steal away with a losing bonus.
Coming into the game off the back of such patchy league form – one win from six league outings – Ulster needed to start well but were down 5-0 within a minute.
The omens didn’t looked good when Dan Tuohy missed the kick- off reception, but then Pedrie Wannenburg threw an easily telegraphed pass that was picked off by Sean Lamont, as the home side were attempting to move the ball out of their 22 while playing into wind and rain.
Stephen Jones found the difficult conversion beyond him as did Ian Humphreys with his ninth-minute penalty attempt, which hit the upright and stayed out.
It came as little surprise when the Scarlets scored again after 18 minutes. This time they moved the ball wide to the right and Adam Warren put new signing Viliami Iongi in space and the strong-running Tongan beat Darren Cave and Craig Gilroy to smash in at the right corner.
Again Jones missed the extras but then Humphreys got Ulster moving with a 21st minute penalty to make it 10-3 to the visitors.
Ulster, though, saw a chink of light when Daniel Evans was binned for tackling Paul Marshall without the ball, after the Ulster scrumhalf had made a great burst down the left wing.
The net result was another marvellous burst down the right wing from the hugely impressive Marshall, who kicked ahead and collected to set up a great platform for Ulster, which saw the ball find Ferris, who was unstoppable from about 10 metres out.
Humphreys missed the conversion and the half ended with the Scarlets leading 10-8, after playing with the difficult conditions at their backs. Ulster used the worsening conditions well and hit back straight after the resumption when Nevin Spence was high-tackled and Humphreys put Ulster in front for the first time with his strike from under the posts. He then stretched Ulster’s lead to 14-10 with another strike three minutes later.
Just before the hour mark, Scarlets again transgressed at a ruck and Humphreys nailed the long-range, wind-assisted effort. Then on 64 minutes, with Ruan Pienaar back on the field, the ball was spun wide from a lineout won by Wannenburg and Ferris was put in space on the right wing. The flanker smashed through Rhodri Williams to score from over 22 metres out, Humphreys converted to put Ulster ahead 24-10.
However, Ulster finished with 14 men as prop Macklin was binned for slowing the ball down and Scarlets immediately punished them with a Kieran Murphy try off a scrum near the posts, which was converted by Jones to narrow Ulster’s lead to 24-17.
ULSTER: A D’Arcy; A Trimble, D Cave, N Spence, C Gilroy; I Humphreys, P Marshall; T Court, R Best, J Afoa, J Muller (capt), D Tuohy, S Ferris, C Henry, P Wannenburg; Replacements: L Stevenson for D Tuohy and P McAllister for Court both 54mins; I Whitten for Spence (60 mins); R Pienaar for Marshall (63 mins); R Diack for Henry, N Brady for Best , P Jackson for Humphreys and A Macklin for Afoa (all 70 mins).
SCARLETS: D Evans; V Iongi, N Reynolds, A Warren, S Lamont; S Jones (capt), G Davies; P John, K Owens, D Manu, L Reed, A Powell, M Gilbert, R McCusker, K Murphy Replacements: I Evans for A Warren 39mins, J Edwards for M Gilbert 48mins; R Williams for I Evans 55mins; E Phillips for K Owens and D Welch for A Powell both 57mins; S Gardiner for D Manu and D Newton for D Evans (both 66 mins).
Referee: A Rolland (IRFU)
