Ulster stay in contention

A David Humphreys-inspired Ulster side kept up the pressure on Celtic League leaders Leinster with a patchy 27-18 victory over Glasgow Warriors at Firhill on Saturday evening.

Man of The Match Isaac Boss

The province's tries came courtesy of Isaac Boss (man of the match) and Justin Harrison but Humphreys was the team's key player, settling his team's nerves when the Warriors threatened to pull off a sensational second half comeback after tries from John Beattie and Hefin O'Hare.

Unlike their main title rivals - Leinster and Munster - the Celtic League is Ulster's one remaining possible source of silverware this season, and it certainly showed in the opening exchanges.
The visitors began with a hunger and determination that Glasgow struggled to match, and moved ahead after less than two minutes of action courtesy of a characteristically assured penalty attempt from their talismanic fly-half, David Humphreys.

Ulster were totally dominating the game and a try for the province was inevitable. The only surprise was that it didn't arrive until midway through the first half, in-form scrum-half Isaac Boss jinking over after a solid catch-and-drive from the Ulster pack was held up just short of the line.
Humphreys converted with aplomb five metres in from the left touch-line, and Ulster were ten points to the good, and cruising.

Parks finally got Glasgow up and running by knocking over a penalty on the half hour mark, but Humphreys replied in kind just four minutes later to restore the province's ten-point advantage.
And it was to get even better for the visitors just before the break, with Justin Harrison barging over in the right corner after another impressive drive from his colleagues in the pack.
Unfortunately, Humphreys failed to add the extras, but Ulster's 18-3 lead looked like a pretty unassailable from a Glasgow perspective, given the dismal nature of their first-half showing.
Still, in fairness the home side, they improved dramatically after the interval, and even though Humphreys added another penalty for Ulster shortly after the restart, Glasgow bagged a well-deserved try through John Beattie in the 52nd minute.

Parks failed to convert, probably killing any hopes Glasgow had of making a sensational second half comeback, but there was no disputing the fact that the Warriors were now on top.
However, Humphreys, as he so often does, steadied the ship by storking over a penalty just before hour mark to make it 24-8 to Ulster.

But Glasgow weren't done yet, and after Parks racked up his second penalty of the evening, O'Hare raced through a now decidedly-dodgy looking Ulster defence to score just to the left of the sticks.
Parks made no mistake with the conversion attempt this time around, and the Warriors were just six points down with twelve minutes to play.

Sadly, for the Warriors, the atrocious level of discipline proved their undoing, and they gave away another stupid penalty just seconds after the restart, allowing Humphreys to kick Ulster into a nine-point advantage, which they never relinquished.

By Mark Doyle
Setanta media

Glasgow Warriors: G Staniforth; R Lamont, H O'Hare, A Henderson, C Shaw; D Parks, S Pinder; K Tkachuk, S Lawson, E Murray; D Turner, C Hamilton; A Wilson, D Macfadyen, J Petrie.

Replacements: F Thomson, B Prescott, J Eddie, J Beattie, J Barclay, C Howarth, S Davey,

Ulster: B Cunningham; T Bowe, A Trimble, J Bell, A Maxwell; D Humphreys, I Boss; B Young, R Best, S Best (capt); J Harrison, M McCullough; N Best, S Ferris, R Wilson.

Replacements: N Brady, J Fitzpatrick, R Caldwell, N McMillan, K Campbell, A Larkin, J Topping.