Ulster 24 Glasgow 35: THE IRONY was not lost on Ulster coach Matt Williams that Dan Parks, a player he was derided for sticking by during his early days as Scotland coach, inflicted the telling damage as Glasgow escaped with a rare victory from Ravenhill.
Parks not only kicked 15 points but was the creator for Glasgow's fourth try, finished by Thom Evans, which put paid to an entertaining fightback by Ulster, who at one stage had overturned a 10-point deficit during a high-tempo second half.
Ulster's ultimate downfall was their inability to make Glasgow, on the back foot for most of the contest, work harder for their tries which, bar the last, all came against the run of play. But Williams admired Parks' contribution.
"Parksie controlled the game," he said. "It was really enjoyable seeing how he has developed and how far he has come on over the last five years. I got a lot of stick for picking him when I was in Scotland but his play was so smart."
Saturday's defeat mattered little in the grand scheme of things as Connacht's 39-11 reverse to Cardiff the previous evening had already guaranteed Ulster's place in the Heineken Cup next season.
And although Williams was frustrated by his side's defensive lapses, he took more satisfaction from Ulster's display than from the unconvincing victory over a second-string Munster side on Wednesday night.
"The players were exhausted but they played really good positive rugby with the ball in hand," added Williams. "They pushed themselves right to the end. You have to remember they had just played Munster 48 hours earlier.
"I honestly believe we were the better side. We played some great rugby and the ball-in-hand stuff was superb. We just let in too many soft tries."
Despite playing with the wind, Ulster had trailed 15-12 at the break with Glasgow scoring tries by Lome Fa'atau and Johnnie Beattie. Parks also slotted a conversion and penalty.
Against the wind in the second half, Ulster's imperative was to keep the ball in hand but when Boss failed to find touch, Max Evans scorched over for Glasgow's third try to leave Ulster 10 points adrift. The home side came storming back with tries by Simon Danielli and Tommy Bowe, with Wallace converting the latter to regain the lead. But Glasgow finished strongly with a late try by Thom Evans and two penalties by Parks sealing Ulster's fate.
SCORING SEQUENCE: 7mins: L Fa'atau try, Parks con, 0-7; 10: Parks pen, 0-10; 17: I Boss try, P Wallace con, 7-10; 24: R Wilson try, 12-10; 29: J Beattie try, 12-15; 44: M Evans try, Parks con 12-22; 62: S Danielli try, 17-22; 64: T Bowe try, P Wallace con, 24-22; 68: Parks pen, 24-25; 74: T Evans try, Parks con, 24-32; 79: Parks pen, 24-35.
ULSTER: M Bartholomeusz (M McCrea 77); T Bowe, A Trimble, R Dewey, S Danielli (N O'Connor); P Wallace, I Boss (K Campbell 74); J Fitzpatrick, R Best, T Court (B Young 69), J Harrison, C Del Fava (R Caldwell 48), M McCullough (K Dawson 57), N Best, R Wilson.
GLASGOW: B Stortoni, L Fa'atau (S Barrow 65min), M Evans, G Morrison, T Evans, D Parks, C Gregor; J Va'a (K Tkachuk 55min), D Hall, M Low, O Palepoi, D Turner, K Brown, J Barclay, J Beattie. Attendance: 6592
Referee: T Hayes (WRU)
