Glasgow Broken Hearted
This was a tale
of the broken hearted as Glasgow left Ravenhill with
a solitary point when 4 or 5 would have been a just
reward for their efforts and Ulster bumble on with the
cracks glossed over and register the first win in four.
The rhetoric of Allen Clarke was faint in the ears of
the supporters who witnessed a poor technically subdued
Ulster that failed to reach close to the quality of
rugby played at the start of the campaign. Ulster may
have had a hard opening to the season and made great
strides into it but have greatly faltered lately and
instead of putting Glasgow to the gallows early on it
was a last gasp penalty by David Humphries that snatched
victory from an expectant Glasgow team who thought they
had it won. Humphries was shockingly and embarrassingly
made Man of the Match in a decision that could only
be to pander to the egos of the sponsors by nominating
a big name. It was high drama at Ravenhill with Ulster
in the lead in the dying seconds of the game gave away
a penalty which the excellent Parks slotted for Ulster
to march up the pitch to score after Neil Best drove
deep into the heart of the defence to force the penalty.
That was probably as
good as it went for Ulster all evening with players
playing with the ball like it was a hot potato racked
with indecision and dreadful skills until Best took
the game by the scruff of the neck showing the characteristic
aggression that he is well renowned for and not for
the first occasion as minutes earlier he did exactly
the same thing and created a spurned penalty chance.
To be fair to Humphries he hung his head in disbelief
on several occasions as kicks to touch were hit in directly
or when his passing was scuffing the grass. Too often
he took the wrong options by running ball that should
have been put into the corners and given the pack some
go forward possession. The story of the game as it was
last week was for Hump to scamper across the back line
closing down any time and space that might have been
created. The resolute Glasgow defence stood firm and
picked Ulster off like fish in a barrel.
Yet it had started off
so brightly with Ulster showing more enterprise and
flair moving the ball swiftly in and out of contact
looking to attack the space and putting Glasgow under
pressure in an assured and confident manner. Soon the
lead began to build and 3 Humphries penalties later
life was looking good for Ulster as they raced into
a 9-point lead after 18 minutes. Ulster 9:Glasgow 0.
But as so often last season a missed tackle or two or
in this case 3 allowed Glasgow a well taken try by Morrison
allowed the visitors to cut the lead to just 2 points.
Glasgow looked comfortable with the ball in hand moving
it swiftly from one side of the pitch to the other and
then switching it into some big forward strike runners
before moving it out quickly to the backs at speed with
each man always looking for the off load causing the
home defence problems which they again could not deal
with. After Glasgow scored the wind noticeably eluded
the sails of Ulster and passes were becoming forced
and no one was willing to take the responsibility of
steadying the ship. Ulster might make a good netball
team for on a few occasions that is what it looked like.
It did not take Hamilton long to intercept one of these
passes to put another 7 points on the board and when
Parks kicked a penalty it looked ominous for the home
score who had conceded 17 points without any sort of
a response. However there was a bit of a flurry just
before half time after the Ulster ego had been bruised
and the inevitable reaction lad to a bit of pressure
allowing Humphries to kick the penalty and reduce the
arrears.
It was a good piece of play that saw the home side attack
the Glasgow line and for the first time of the evening
get in behind the Glasgow defence but options to go
down the blind time and time again did not pay dividends
until Ulster elected to kick for touch instead of take
the penalty 10 meters out. From the line out the pack
took well and attempted to drive over but poor body
positions with most of the forwards having their heads
up and backs not straight wilted but managed to get
the ball to a rampant Trimble who was taken out with
a high professional tackle just under the posts for
Humphries to convert and not a yellow card in sight
nor a penalty try for what should have been a penalty
try. Turned over 4 times in the first half, 3 of them
from Neil Best the position, for home fans, was precarious
at the half. Half time Ulster 12 Glasgow 17
The second half did not start where the first had left
off but saw Glasgow deprive Ulster of any possession
an kept the home side pinned down in their own half
and with it all to do the hill was looking more like
the Everest. It was a series of indiscipline that cost
the visitors dearly and it was a series of fumbles and
poor decisions that almost cost Ulster dearly. The Glasgow
pack were working well and in particular evidence was
Tim Barker offloading and tackling with such a high
work rate that it must have made Mark McCall cringe
in the Stand. However early in the second a moment of
Humphries brilliance saw an intercept in his own half,
a sixty-yard dash and it was a seven pointer to put
Ulster into a tentative lead. But neither side managed
to control or exert any sort of dominance. The Glasgow
pack were impressive playing in the old All Black style
at times breaking through en masse through the Ulster
maul being able to be covered, all 8 of them, with a
small blanket!
There were a couple of more penalties exchanged before
Ulster went into a slender 2 point lead and all they
had to do was keep Glasgow in their own half. But poor
kicking by Humphries and very lax defence by Maggs saw
them surge up the field to set in motion a sequence
of events that must have been heart breaking and loose
the game they should have won.
The intent of Neil Kelly to turn defence into attack
seems to have gone astray as Ulster time and time again
turned attack into desperate scrambling defence. Some
individual performances were well below par with no
vigour involved. Tommy Bowe showed lapses that will
take him out of the 6 Nations Squad and give a grateful
Dennis Hickie his berth back. There were some very bright
moments with good and imaginative back play creating
space for the strike runners but time and time again
it was nullified and possession gifted by poor execution
and half hearted aggression. Too often the pass was
forced for the sake of it when consolidation would have
been better and too often the movement broke down due
to a forced pass when it would have been better to kick
behind the defence and exert a killing pressure. Monday
morning at New Forge will be an interesting day, as
a lot of players will be given tackling practice and
a few lessons on what it means to wear the Ulster jersey.
Mark McCall could start by showing the team a few highlights
from the beginning of the season. Thank goodness for
Neil Best, Justin Harrison and Stephen Ferris tonight
otherwise it would have been freefall without the parachute
but instead a momentary relief is brought to the proceedings
for the preparation of the visit of Biarritz. Base on
tonight’s display Biarritz can count on leaving
Belfast with a hangover and 5 points in the bag.
25 - 23 
