Ulster v Ospreys April 2009
It’s getting very depressing again, supporting Ulster. It doesn’t seem like it was all that long ago when we could at least rely on our local heroes to win their home games. But after a brief spell of promising improvement in the New Year it looks as if we have fallen back into the same old pattern of underachievement.
The work on the new stand seems to be progressing very nicely with all the steelwork complete and standing on the prom we could at least imagine what the ground might look like next year. There was a reasonable crowd of around over 9,000 packing out the Prom, the main stand, the temporary stand and the reduced terrace as Rugby made a welcome return to Ravenhill after a prolonged break. But for all that, as I made my way from the beer-tent to the prom the place felt a bit flat, probably a hangover from last week’s defeat in Dublin.
The good weather of the morning had long disappeared to be replaced by a steady, soft rain. The Ospreys, having left many of their stars out of the team in preparation for next week-end’s Heineken Cup quarter-final, might not have been expecting much from this game but any confidence the home fans might have taken from this was soon to evaporate.
Ulster kicked off but failed to secure the ball and the Ospreys made their way back up the field. Ulster were then penalised for holding on in the tackle and James Hook gave the Ospreys an early lead with an easy three pointer. Ulster looked the more imaginative in the first quarter but every opportunity was squandered with poor decision making and simple execution mistakes. Passes failed to go to hand, kicks to touch went out on the full, knock-ons and slow ball from the ruck when quick ball was needed. So despite some promising moves it was the Ospreys who scored next with a second James Hook penalty opening up a 6 point lead we had to wait until the 28th minute for Ulster to finally get on the score sheet with a penalty kick from Clinton Schifcofske. It was a poor return considering that Ulster had broken the Ospreys defensive line several times without reward. As Half-time approached tit was the Ospreys turn to break the Ulster defensive line only to be denied by a try-saving tackle for Paddy Wallace.
In the dying moments of the half Ulster had possibly their best opportunity to score from 1st phase ball with a line-out about 10m from the Ospreys line but Peter Allen chose this as his moment to call a line-out not straight and the Os were let off the hook.
The Maxi rugby teams from Coleraine and Dungannon took to the field at half time and provided possibly the best running rugby of the night. The lads from Dungannon appeared to be the better drilled team and although no final score was announced I saw three tries from Dungannon and none from Coleraine so I reckon the Tyrone men were comfortable winners.
The second half was little better than the first with a host of pointless “tactical” kicking which gave neither team an edge. With little in the way of inventiveness from either team it looked as if it the Ospreys might just bore their way to a lacklustre away win.
Of the few moments of excitement worth noting Isaac Boss had a clearance attempt charged down just metres from the line but no Osprey could gather the ball for what should have been a gift of a try.
Ulster countered with a chance of their own when Paddy Wallace hacked through and the chasing players wrapped up the Ospreys defence forcing them to give away a penalty for not releasing in order to prevent a try. Schifcofske missed the resulting straightforward penalty chance which would have brought Ulster level and the Ospreys survived.
To add insult to injury Clinton pushed another similar opportunity wide of the posts a few minutes later Finally he made amends when the Ospreys conceded yet another kickable penalty and Ulster were at last on level terms though they should have been six points ahead.
Ulster seemed at last to be thinking that they could win this game after all and Niall O’Connor made yet another attempt to unlock the Ospreys defence with a cross-field kick and this time the ball sat up nicely for Magners Man-of-the-Match Simon Danielli who gathered and raced in under the posts for a nice seven-point lead. This finally set the crowd buzzing, but the excitement was short lived as Peter Allen adjudged Ulster to be guilty of crossing when gathering the restart and James hook stepped up and kicked the penalty to close the gap to four points.
With less than ten minutes left to defend a narrow four point lead this was the cue for the Ospreys to throw everything at a final offensive on the Ulster line. A chip and chase from Vaughton saw them almost succeed but Danielli just saved the day by reaching the ball first. But the Ospreys were not to be denied and sustained pressure on the line saw Tiatia drive over the line. The TMO was required to decide whether he had touched down. The TMO duly awarded the try and Hook added the extras for a three point lead.
Ulster were unable to make amends in the final few minutes and the Ospreys collected the win leaving Ulster with a losing bonus for all their efforts.
In the end it was a bit of a dreary match with little to excite the die-hard fan or the neutral observer. Perhaps the most entertaining moments came, not from play but from our own Tommy Bowe, returning as water-boy for the Ospreys. He was warmly welcomed by the crowd who seem to have forgiven him for leaving these shores for the Ospreys, the same could not be said for his singing though as it seemed the crowd are not going to let him forget his rousing performance of the Black velvet Band in a hurry.
Ulster’s set-piece play was a big improvement over last week’s pitiful display against Leinster. The Scrum was dominant throughout and the lineout was much more secure but still there is something not quite right. There seems to be a lack of self-belief or maybe even a lack of a will to win. This Ospreys side should have been dispatched not just with their feathers ruffled, but plucked, trussed stuffed and ready for the oven. Instead we were left with a measly losing bonus. We’re not left with one home game and three away to try to salvage some dignity for the season and given our inability to win at home let-alone away I don’t feel confident that we’ll be doing anything more than scrapping it out with Connacht for last place. The away trip to Galway takes on even more significance now.
Ulster: (15-9) Clinton Schifcofske, Andrew Trimble, Darren Cave, Paddy Wallace, Simon Danielli, Niall O’Connor, Isaac Boss
(1-8) Bryan Young, Rory Best (Capt), Brendon Botha, Ed O’Donoghue, Ryan Caldwell, Chris Henry, David Pollock, Robbie Diack
Replacements: (16-22) Nigel Brady, Tom Court, Carlo Del Fava, Matt McCullough, Cillian Willis, Ian Whitten, Timoci Nagusa
Osreys: (15-9) Gareth Owen, David Bishop, Jonathan Spratt, Andrew Bishop, Jonny Vaughton, James Hook, Mike Phillips
(1-8) Paul James (Capt), Huw Bennett, Cai Griffiths, Alun-Wyn Jones, Andy Lloyd, Tom Smith, Steve Tandy, Filo Tiatia
Replacements : (16-22) Richard Hibbard, Ryan Bevington, Filipo Levi, Jamie Nutbrown, Dan Biggar, Sonny Parker
Referee: Peter
Allen (SRU)
