Ulster hang on to earn interpro win over misfiring Connacht 

NARROWEST OF MARGINS: Mack Hansen of Connacht after the United Rugby Championship match between Ulster and Connacht at Kingspan Stadium in Belfast. Pic: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile

ULSTER 20 CONNACHT 19  

Ulster backed up last week's big win against Racing 92 with a more nervy and narrow affair against interpro rivals Connacht in Belfast.

The westerners, who won on their last visit to Kingspan Stadium in last May's URC quarter-final, won the try count three to two but would be edged out by the narrowest of margins, losing 20-19 on a night when John Cooney kicked ten points from the tee.

What was an eventful first quarter featured three scores, another chalked off and a few helpings of interpro niggle too.

Having flown out of the blocks against Racing 92, Ulster again started brightly and took a quick lead after only three minutes.

Again looking sharp with the ball in hand, the hosts early offloads were opening things up before prop Andy Warwick was on hand to score just his third career try after John Cooney's pass out of the tackle.

Connacht would produce the perfect response, however. After Tom Farrell had been prevented from going over by Iain Henderson, there was to be no stopping Bundee Aki as he went for the line from close range.

After Sean O'Brien had found a huge hole in the Ulster defensive line, Connacht were inches from taking the lead only for winger Shayne Bolton's attempt to dot down landing on the dead-ball line.

Instead, it would be Ulster who edged themselves ahead.

Attacking off another tap penalty after the method had proven so successful last week, the five-metre maul was stopped short but Nick Timoney drove over a few phases later.

The frenetic pace slowed somewhat thereafter with each side guilty of some wastefulness in the 20 minutes before half-time. 

Ulster missed touch after securing a breakdown penalty on halfway while Connacht passed up an even greater gilt-edged opportunity just before half-time when they fumbled a slippery ball forward when only metres from the Ulster line.

The opening of the second-half was played in a similarly scrappy vein to the ending of the first but Ulster had the comfort of a two-score lead when Cooney kicked a penalty with half an hour remaining.

Again Connacht sought a quick response but this time they were undone by yet another misfire at the line-out.

Kieran Treadwell of Ulster during the United Rugby Championship match between Ulster and Connacht at Kingspan Stadium in Belfast. Pic: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile

They would cut their host's lead to just five with 20 minutes remaining after Shamus Hurley-Langton danced along the touchline, evading the tackles of Robert Baloucoune and Will Addison before finishing in the corner.

Carty couldn't add the extras but the game once again hung in the balance.

Once again, though, Connacht were undone by their own errors.

Turned over at another line-out, this time deep in their own territory, they would scramble back to stop the try but were caught offside with Cooney's subsequent effort from the tee nudging Ulster eight points ahead.

To their credit, Connacht weren't done yet either and with ten minutes to go scored their third try of the game. This time Bolton was not to be denied even if once again the Ulster tackling in the build-up left plenty to be desired.

As the game entered its final stages, JJ Hanrahan, now on for Carty, knocked over the sideline conversion to cut Ulster's lead to just one.

The northern province had a chance to make the game safe but were turned over twice in quick succession, first when the ball didn't emerge from the ruck and then at the line-out.

Connacht would have one last chance to go from deep and snatch a victory right at the death but a forward pass from Mack Hansen essentially ended the game and saw Ulster climb back up to fourth in the URC table.

ULSTER: W Addison; R Baloucoune, J Hume, S McCloskey,, J Stockdale; J Flannery, J Cooney; A Warwick, T Stewart, M Moore; K Treadwell, I Henderson; M Rea, S Reffell, N Timoney. 

REPLACEMENTS: S Kitshoff (for Warwick, 50), T O'Toole (for Moore, 50), A O'Connor (for Treadwell, 69), H Sheridan (for Reffell, 53), N Doak (for Flannery, 60), J Postlethwaite (for Hume, 64), S O'Brien (for Addison, 76) 

CONNACHT: M Hansen; S Bolton, T Farrell, B Aki, B Ralston, J Carty, C Blade; D Buckley, T McElroy, F Bealham; D Murray, G Thornbury; C Prendergast, S Hurley-Langton, S O'Brien (for Addison, 76). 

REPLACEMENTS: D Heffernan (for McElroy, 51), P Dooley (for Buckley, 64), J Aungier (for Bealham, 64), N Murray (for D Murray, 61), C Oliver (for O'Brien, 13), JJ Hanrahan (for Carty, 65), S Jennings (for Bolton 76).

Referee: E Cross