Ulster back to winning ways
Ulster brought their four-game RaboDirect PRO12 losing streak to an end as they secured a 22-3 win over Connacht at Ravenhill.
Last Updated: 05/11/11 8:40pm
Ulster brought their four-game RaboDirect PRO12 losing streak to an end as they secured a 22-3 win over Connacht at Ravenhill.
Tries from Craig Gilroy, Tom Court and a late score from Ian Humphreys, who ended the night with 12 points, saw Ulster through in an efficient rather than polished performance.
But that will not stop them from receiving a huge confidence boost from getting back to winning ways, although they were left with injury worries over Stephen Ferris, Court, and skipper Johann Muller.
Ulster made the perfect start through a Humphreys penalty after less than a minute of play but they struggled to find their own rhythm for the rest of the first half.
Indiscipline from Muller allowed the visitors into Ulster's 22 early on and, though only Craig Gilroy's fingertips saved Ulster's line from a successful Miah Nikora cross-kick to Fetu'u Vainikolo, the visitors did get on the scoreboard when Nikora landed a 16th-minute penalty.
Though Ulster quickly got back on top they missed a number of scoring opportunities - the first when Pedrie Wannenburg knocked on with the line in sight from a Ferris off-load.
Chances
The second saw Humphreys go wide with a kickable 20th-minute penalty before Darren Cave knocked on when a try looked certain late in the half.
However, Ulster did have the last say of the opening 40 minutes as their powerful scrum set up Gilroy to latch onto an inside pass from Humphreys for an unconverted try in the left corner to make it 8-3 to Ulster at the interval.
The hosts carried the momentum into the start of the second half, with a Paddy Wallace inside pass to Andrew Trimble creating an opportunity with less than two minutes gone in the half.
From there the pack took over and Tom Court burrowed over after Rory Best, Dan Tuohy and John Afoa had all had a bite at the Connacht line. Humphreys added the extras to put Ulster 15-3 to the good.
But Ulster were unable to add a quick follow-up score and the game began to lose its shape and momentum as a raft of substitutions were made.
Ulster almost had a third try when Wallace failed to hold a Simon Danielli pass after the full back made a neat break off a Cave pass.
The match seemed to be heading for an uneventful finish but then Humphreys burst through to score under the posts and add the extra two points with the last kick of the game.