Ulster end with a whimper

Ulster bowed out of this season's Heineken European Cup with yet another disappointing defeat on home turf. To win the competition last season and then suffer a whitewash in the present campaign is obviously not what the Ulster public wanted. But that's just what they got as Ulster were deservedly beaten by a slick, free-flowing French side who ran in six unconverted tries.

Ulster did manage to double their try count in the competition through winger Tyrone Howe, but it was once again left to Simon Mason to score the bulk of their points. He ended up with a total of 56 points for the competition which is in stark contrast from last season's cup performance of 144. But that was hardly his fault and last night, as throughout the competition, he was immaculate.

The same, however, cannot be said about his colleagues who made too many errors which the lively Bourgoin side snapped up.

Ulster did, however, manage the perfect start when they were 10 points up after as many minutes.

First, the ever-reliable Mason banged over an opening penalty after eight minutes. A minute later he was responsible for the defending champions' first Heineken Cup try at Ravenhill this season which saw Howe scoring out wide.

The French were quick to reply, however, when their forwards drove ahead and after a ruck on the Ulster line, out-half Benjamin Boyet managed to wriggle over.

The French side, who were not afraid to throw the ball around, were soon again annoying the Ulster defence, this time left wing Jean-Francois Coux escaping two tacklers to go over.

Mason restored Ulster's lead before half-time with a couple of penalties, but Ulster handed Bourgoin a simple try immediately after the restart with Coux getting his second touchdown.

After Mason landed his fourth penalty, Bourgoin stormed back in the 54th minute with Raschi charging over from a line-out to put his side ahead 20-19.

It was all Bourgoin in the final quarter as they opened the game up. Glas sprinted across for a try before Giolitti ran in another near the end.

SCORING SEQUENCE: 8: Mason penalty, 30; 9: Howwe try, Mason con, 10-0; 18: Boyet try, 10-5; 24: Coux try, 10-10; 30: Mason pen, 13-10; 40: Mason pen, 16-10; 44: Coux try, 16-15; 46: Mason pen, 19-15; 55: Raschi try, 19-20; 59: Mason pen, 22-20; 65: Boye dg, 22-23; 69: Glas try, 22-28; 72: Giolitti try, 22-33; 76: Howe try, 27-33; 82: McKenzie pen, 27-36.

ULSTER: S Mason; J Topping, J Bell, R Fredericks, T Howe; D Humphreys (capt), S Bell; J Fitzpatrick, R Weir, J Veitayaki, G Longwell, P Johns, D O'Cuinneagain, E Miller, A Ward. Replacements: T McWhirter for Miller (40); M Blair for Ward (55); S Best for Veitayaki (68); J Cunningham for Topping (70).

BOURGOIN: N Geany; L Leflammand, E Galon, S Glas, J-F Coux; B Boyet, A Nicoud; A Milloud, J Martin-Culet, P Peyron, J Daude, L Nallet, S Chabelo, P Raschi, (capt), R Mohr. Replacements: L Giolitti for Leflammand (34); L Petringer for Daude (74); M McKenzie for Geany (74); S Fischer for Milloud (74).

Referee: E Morrison (England).