Ulster hold out against Neath

Ulster 17 Neath 13

Ulster got their Celtic League campaign back on track and inflicted a first defeat of the competition on Neath in a tense tussle at Raven Hill.

Ulster went in to the match missing no fewer than 10 first choice players due to a combination of injuries, illnesses and unavailability due to Ireland’s World Cup qualifying match in Russia.

Not surprisingly it showed in the first quarter against a Neath team who had come to Raven Hill with three wins out of three under their belt.

But a bumper Belfast crowd of 10,000 gave Ulster great support and helped them turn a 10-0 deficit into what, in the circumstances, was a famous victory.

Alan Solomon’s side seemed on course for a hat-trick of defeats when they fell behind to a Lee Jarvis penalty and his conversion off a try by Welsh wing wizard Shane Williams in the opening half hour.

Missed kicks to touch by Ulster and probing kicks from Jarvis had kept the hosts pinned in their own territory for most of the game up until then, but they finally got a break on 33 minutes.

Neath’s prop Duncan Jones was sin-binned for offending at the scrum and Ireland A pivot Neil Doak put over the penalty to get them home side on the board.

The whole team made the most of the numerical advantage, following up with a brilliant Brian Cunningham try before the interval.

Full-back Cunningham stamped delightfully through the defence after a long pass by Adam Larkin had brought Ireland’s James Topping through off his wing, and Doak converted to level the scores.

Doak missed a penalty after Jones was lucky to avoid a red card but winger Tyrone Howe burst through for a superb Ulster score just before the hour mark.

The conversion from Doak made it 17-10 and Jarvis missed another penalty, before landing one to reduce the arrears to four points.

Doak missed a penalty attempt either side of the Jarvis score but those misses were not punished and Ulster held out for victory.