Ulster fail to recover from early onslaught

Llanelli - 21 Ulster - 15: Ulster could never have expected another first half like that against Toulouse last Saturday at Ravenhill. Llanelli could never have imagined giving them one in last night's encounter that pitched together the two teams occupying the top of Pool Five in the Heineken European Cup and also the domestic Magners League.

Stradey Park is no place for basking in glory and while Mark McCall's side could not be accused of such an outrage, the scorching start by the Scarlets last night provided Ulster with the same nervous concern that flattened the French for the first half in Belfast.

After four minutes the Welsh running back line had Ulster reeling and when a defensive kick from Ulster centre Paul Steinmetz arrived to the outside centre, Regan King, and bounced off his legs, he had the choice to pick and pass or pick and run.

David Humphreys was shifting to cover and Regan decided to run. He had the legs on the 36-year-old and while the former Irish outhalf might have felt King's shirt, his passage was clear for Llanelli's first try.

As if that wasn't enough the Scarlets sensed this was the time to put Ulster to the sword and in a continuation of the opening flourish they pushed hard for the second score. Pinned to their posts Ulster heroically put bodies on the line as the home side recycled at least a dozen times before the ball moved wide to outside centre Gavin Evans. Evans popped it for left wing Mark Jones at pace and only for Paddy Wallace making contact beside the posts and Jones spilling Ulster would have been climbing out of a 12-point deficit.

But the "white knights" have never been known to dip below gritty and obdurate and with the Jones let-off combined with some inspired collective defensive play, they quickly began to string some phases together and run the ball.

While Llanelli outhalf Stephen Jones kicked a penalty for 8-0, some sweeping runs from Ulster could have yielded more than a series of territorial raids. In one slick move instigated by Steinmetz, Andrew Trimble brought in Bryn Cunningham just a little early before the fullback was taken down in the Llanelli 22 and eventually hobbled from the match.

From there the match remained lively but with Humphreys harshly punishing any lapse or indiscipline from the home side. A penalty on 29 minutes brought it to 8-3 and when Llanelli were judged to have taken a man out from the side Humphreys again kept Ulster in touch, fuss for 8-6.

While Llanelli could not maintain the intensity of the opening 10 minutes, there was still fire in the way they played. Perhaps Ulster's win in the Celtic League a few weeks ago inspired the home side for some payback and again they nearly succeeded.

When Stephen Jones threaded through a deft sidekick for fullback Barry Davies, it again looked as though the Ulster cover was too thin to prevent the second try. But where Wallace was for Jones' run, so too was scrum-half Isaac Boss there to meet Davies. Again the Welsh back knocked on as the two contested the skidding ball for Ulster to clear their lines.

Another penalty from the outhalf on the stroke of half-time for 11-6 gave Llanelli some comfort going into the break. But they could not have been satisfied with the return, especially after more than 40 minutes of which most was spent in the Ulster half and a significant portion of that pounding the Ulster line. Ulster's confidence should have been high even if they had rode their luck.

That finally gave way when Llanelli sparked off another fit of recycling with some trademark close handling and clever off-loading by their entire back line as well as flanker Gavin Thomas. While Ulster fanned across the pitch short on numbers, right wing Dafydd James accelerated into Paddy Wallace, enough to brush him aside and leave Mark Jones a clear entry for the second try just after the hour. With Stephen Jones converting for 18-9, Ulster then had a problem, although Humphreys did not.

Two more penalties for five out of five brought Ulster to 18-15, just one kick away from being level. For fight and the ability to keep in contact, Ulster deserved it but for playing the game it belonged to the home side and when Jones kicked for 21-15 on 70 minutes to nervously close it out the crowd finally found their voices, it was Llanelli's game. The Welsh take control of Pool Five.

Scoring sequence - 4 mins: R king try 5-0; 26: S Jones pen 8-0; 29: D Humphreys pen 8-3; 34: D Humphreys pen 8-6; 40: S Jones pen 11-6. Half-time. 47: D Humphreys pen 11-9; 61: M Jones try, S Jones con 18-9; 64: D Humphreys pen 18-12; 67: D Humphreys pen 18-15; 71: S Jones pen 21-15.

LLANELLI: B Davies; D James, R King, G Evans, M Jones; S Jones, D Peel; I Thomas, M Rees, D Manu, V Cooper, I Afeaki, S Easterby (capt) G Thomas, A Popham. Replacements: C Dundea for Manu (65 mins), A jones for Popham and M Thomas for Afeaki (74 mins).

ULSTER: B Cunningham; A Maxwell, P Steinmetz, P Wallace, A Trimble; D Humphreys, I Boss; J Fitzpatrick, R Best, B Young, J Harrison (capt), M McCullough, N Best, S Ferris, R Wilson. Replacements: S Young for Cunningham (22 mins), S Best for Fitzpatrick (40 mins), K Maggs for Wallace (66 mins).

Referee: T Spreadbury (Eng).