Ulster 28 Glasgow 14:IT WAS hardly vintage fare, but Ulster were content to take the four points at Ravenhill last night as Darren Cave had an impressive outing and secondrow Dan Tuohy was immense when the going got tough. Ian Humphreys weighed in with 13 points alongside tries from Cave, Paul Marshall and skipper Chris Henry.
But too many penalties and a lack of precision allowed Glasgow to stay in touch and only in the last quarter did Ulster – with Nevin Spence showing well – pull away with their superior strength and experience proving crucial.
Things didn’t start too well for the favourites as Colin Shaw nearly made the left corner and was only prevented by a delayed pass and a good hit from Cave. Glasgow recycled and Troy Nathan burrowed over near the posts with the score being given only after Welsh referee Leighton Hodges went upstairs to the TMO.
Duncan Weir was wide with the conversion but Spence won the restart and the net effect was a penalty which Humphreys nailed to make it 5-3 to Glasgow. Even better was to follow after a mazy Ian Whitten run saw Cave kick ahead and then get on the end of an intercept thrown by Colin Gregor to Stuart Hogg to run in under the posts on 20 minutes, Humphreys converted. In the 40th minute a slap-down of the ball from Lewis Stevenson allowed Weir to slot his first kick with a penalty to cut Ulster’s lead to 10-8.
After Spence had won the restart again, the ball was moved right and, from a Dan Tuohy drive, Paul Marshall nipped over in the right corner. Humphreys was unable to convert. Weir goaled a long-range penalty as the half ended with Ulster leading 15-11.
The Warriors came tearing out in the second half and Weir narrowed their lead to one point in the 47th minute. Still, Humphreys immediately struck a long-range reply to put his side 18-14 up and then just before the hour mark landed a penalty from halfway.
Humphreys was wide with a 73rd-minute penalty but Chris Henry barged over near the posts in the 78th minute with Humphreys adding the extras. Warriors helded firm to deny Ulster the bonus point.
ULSTER: A D'Arcy, C Gilroy, D Cave, N Spence, I Whitten, I Humphreys, P Marshall; P McAllister, A Kyriacou, J Cronin; L Stevenson, D Tuohy; P Wannenburg, W Faloon, C Henry (capt). Replacement: N Brady for A Kyriacou (70 mins).
GLASGOW WARRIORS:S Hogg; T Seymour, R Dewey, T Nathan, C Shaw; D Weir, C Gregor; J Welsh, P MacArthur, M Cusack; T Ryder, R Harley (capt); J Eddie, C Fusaro, R Wilson. Replacements: F Aramburu for C Shaw (51 mins), E Kalman for M Cusack (51 mins), P Horne for T Seymour (55 mins), H Pyrgos for R Dewey (64 mins), N Campbell for J Eddie (69 mins).
Referee: L Hodges (WRU)
