Brave Ulster win battle but lose war

By Kenny Archer ULSTER won the battle but lost the war at a jam-packed Ravenhill last night.

An injury-time dropped goal by David Humphreys enabled Ulster to take the deserved honours on the night. But despite victory their season has ended.

Requiring a miracle to qualify for the knock-out stages of the Heineken Cup, it never looked like materialising. Needing four tries to take the top spot from Northampton they could only manage one against a side that had little problems stopping Ulster's meagre cutting edge. Instead it will be the Saints who go through to the last eight by virtue of a Ben Cohen try early in the second half. It was scrum-half Neil Doak who made the initial dart to the posts. But although he was grounded, the pack drove in and it was Neil McMillan who emerged over the line for his third try in two games.