Ulster end Blues hoodoo with emphatic victory

ULSTER scored 15 points in a four-minute spell midway through the second half to end a run of seven straight defeats at the hands of Cardiff Blues.

The home side led 15-8 at half-time but disintegrated during a second period in which they rarely crossed the halfway line.

A home try arrived when mercurial Kiwi centre Casey Laulala picked up a charged-down Ulster clearance before skipping past two defenders to the line. Sweeney converted.

Ulster hit back, making ground down the left before spreading it right for wing Craig Gilroy to cross over. A long-range penalty from Ian Humphreys then put Ulster ahead.

A deliberate knock-on to prevent Chris Czekaj delivering a try-scoring pass to Tom James brought a yellow card for Ulster full-back Adam D’Arcy, and while he was absent James claimed his deserved touch down after Rhys Thomas and then Michael Paterson had been held up on the line.

Sweeney slotted a penalty after Chris Henry was pronounced guilty of a deliberate knock-on and Ulster suffered a further blow when South African Johann Muller was knocked out and had to retire to the stand.

Everything turned on its head in the second half however, as the visitors brought on the cavalry in the shape of Andrew Trimble and Paddy Wallace and with D’Arcy now restored to the action, they looked more dangerous.

Humphreys narrowed the gap with a penalty and then dinked a kick ahead for Gilroy, the wing slicing past two defenders to reach the posts.

D’Arcy powered down the left to cross for another score straight after the resumption and the game suddenly had a totally different look.

Substitute Willie Faloon galloped over to clinch a bonus point and when Gareth Williams inexplicably tried a grubber kick that failed to breach the Ulster line, Wallace had a free run to score. Humphreys’ third conversion hammered in the final nail.

Cardiff Blues scorers: Tries: Laulala, James. Cons: Sweeney. Pens: Sweeney.

CARDIFF BLUES: C. Czekaj; R. Mustoe, C. Laulala, D. Hewitt, T. James; C. Sweeney, T. Slater; T. Filise, R. Thomas, S. Andrews; J. Down, P. Tito; M. Paterson, M. Molitika, X. Rush. Replacements: G. Davies for Sweeney (72), G. Williams for Thomas (68), B. Griffiths for Down (20), B. White for Rush (27).

Ulster scorers: Tries: Gilroy 2, D’Arcy, Faloon, Wallace. Cons: Humphreys 3. Pens: Humphreys 2.

ULSTER: A. D’Arcy; C. Gilroy, N. Spence, I. Whitten, S. Danielli; I. Humphreys, P. Marshall; P. McAllister, N. Brady, B.J. Botha; J. Muller, D. Tuohy; P. Wannenburg, C. Henry, R. Diack.

Replacements: A. Trimble for Spence (47), I. Porter for Marshall (76), A. Kyriacou for Brady (72), J. Cronin for Botha (72), T. Barker for Muller (36), P. Wallace for Wannenburg (47), W. Faloon for Diack (48).

Referee: George Clancy (IRFU).