An Ulster deluge!

Ulster got their 2009/2010 HEC campaign off to a stonking start with a well earned win over a poor Bath at Ravenhill.  The rain, having stayed away last week to deny the Scarlets their traditional Ravenhill soaking, decided that is had been saving itself for this week instead and  as the kick-off time loomed the rain grew steadier and steadier necessitating full waterproofs for my evening on the promenade.

As the Ulster team ran onto the pitch to the familiar refrain of “Stand up for the Ulstermen” a spectacular fireworks display issued from behind the  Aquinas stand giving us a taste for what we hoped would be the fireworks  to come on the pitch.

As the smoke cleared Ulster got the game under way playing towards the beer-tent end and Mr Jones immediately declared his intentions by penalising Ulster for not rolling away. Anyone who had been hoping for a repeat of the intensity of last week was soon made aware that this was a different week, a different competition and a different class of opposition. Bath’s forwards were not going to just roll-over and play dead and Ulster were going to have to win this one from the ground up. Bath kicked their penalty to touch and set up a decent attacking line-out in the Ulster half.  However Ulster were more than a match for them and Willie Faloon wrested the ball away to provide temporary relief.  But it was to be short lived as a couple of aimless kicks later Ulster were penalised again and Bath were first on the scoreboard with an easy penalty kick.

From the restart Ulster were much better, pressuring Bath from the off, and finally forcing a return chance at a penalty kick. Ian Humphreys stepped up, the crowd went silent and everyone wondered which iHumph we were getting tonight.  Humphreys duly slotted a sweet kick and we new we were in with a decent shot of a victory. 

Five minutes later a sweet backline move worked the ball across to the prom touchline with Clinton Schifcofske coming into the line and breaking through the Bath defence and taking play to a couple of metres short of the line. Jim Nagusa arrived quickly at the ruck, picked up the ball and darted over the line to give Ulster a healthy 10-3 lead.

Bath were definitely on the back foot now but whistle-happy James Jones wasn’t about to let Ulster’s momentum eclipse the sound of his voice and whistle and before long he had awarded another penalty to Bath allowing them to creep back into the game at 10-6. Not that Jones was necessarily being one-sided in his awarding of penalties he was doling them out pretty evenly. Bath were rattled though and a bit of back-chat and the next penalty saw them marched 10 metres up the pitch for their troubles. iHumph used the kick to get Ulster a strong attacking line-out in the Bath 22 but the chance was squandered when a knock-in handed possession back to bath.

The rain was subsiding now but the ball was still wet and slippery enough for the Garryowen to be an effective tactic. And it was Bath who were feeling the pressure with Ulster secure under the high ball and Bath struggling to gather clean ball. As the clock rolled past forty minutes it looked like Bath were the team looking for relief when they  kicked to touch to end the half rather than looking for one last chance to close the gap.

Bath kicked off to start the second half and Ulster immediately began to press. With the first score of the second half always a crucial one Ulster were keen to extend their lead rather than to allow Bath back into the game. As they pressed forwards towards the bath line iHumph dropped back into the pocket and struck a sweet drop-goal to extend Ulster’s lead back up to seven points.

With Bath now visibly playing for any relief they could get, milking every injury and stoppage it started to look as if Ulster would close the game out. But it was not all to be plain sailing. Ulster slid back into old habits with slow ball and silly handling mistakes.  Another penalty chance temporarily brought Bath back into the game as Davies closed the gap to 4 points with a simple penalty kick But that just seemed to put fire back into the bellies of the Ulster players and they were the next to strike. Relentless pressure on Bath forced them backwards scrambling back to defend with Ulster in ascendancy and the Ulster Centres combining with the back row  to put Faloon in under the posts for another seven-pointer.

With Ulster in the ascendancy Bath were becoming more and more desperate. Giving away penalties as they tried to prevent Ulster from scoring again. With approx 15 minutes to go iHumph nailed another penalty to put the game beyond reach at 23-12.
Bath were not quite dead yet but they were definitely desperate, and Ulster seemed devoid of real attacking moves. When bath were reduced to 14 men with 6 minutes left we wondered if a bonus point win was on the cards but unfortunately it was not to be abd Ulster saw out the game with only a penalty to show for their efforts leaving the score at 26-12.

On reflection this was a great start for the Ulster 209/2010 campaign. Ulster were definitely not the finished article and have more steps to take but they are certainly on the way up/ Long may it continue.

A revenge win in Edinburgh next week is certainly possible and would lay down a maker for the season.

 

Brian McLaughlin heaped praise on his Ulster side after watching their 26-12 victory over Bath in their opening Heineken Cup clash.

The Irish side ensured of a winning start to their Pool Four campaign with a tough win over the Guinness Premiership side, leaving their coach thrilled.

"I'm really happy with the way things went and how we worked so hard for each other," McLaughlin said. "All credit to the guys as they played the game in the right areas of the pitch and came away with the points.

McLaughlin also emphasised the performances of out half Ian Humphreys, who kicked 16 points, and centre and skipper Paddy Wallace for the way they controlled the game at crucial times.

"You have to give Ian and Paddy praise for their match management. I was very, very pleased with our match management which was superb.

"I think this squad of players are hopefully building towards something, but we still have a long way to go.

"That performance now has to be carried on and stepped up next week at Murrayfield (against Edinburgh). We've got to go there in a positive frame of mind."

Bath coach Steve Meehan refused to be drawn on flanker Andy Beattie's red card, which came in the 75th minute for use of the boot and undermined any prospect of coming away from Ravenhill with a losing bonus point.

"It's hard to complain about it as I haven't seen it yet but it's really out of character for Andy and if there was an action it came probably more out of frustration," he said.

Meehan felt Bath's second half effort was their undoing as Ulster took control and squeezed the life out of his side, forcing them on the back foot.

"I felt our first half performance was very good and the guys were confident in the changing room, but unfortunately for us we made one or two errors which put us on the back foot," he added.

"As a result, Ulster fed off our errors and played well. We just had to deal with too much pressure and they really played well with a solid set piece and great percentage play, it was a typical Ravenhill performance from them.

"For us, it's one match out of six and it's really too early to say what impact it will have."

Ulster:
(1-8) Tom Court, Andy Kyriacou, Brendon Botha, Ed O’Donoghue, Ryan Caldwell, Stephen Ferris, Willie Faloon, Robbie Diack

(15-9) Clinton Schifcofske, Timoci Nagusa, Darren Cave, Paddy Wallace, Andrew Trimble, Ian Humphreys, Isaac Boss.

Replacements:
(16-23) Nigel Brady, Bryan Young, Declan Fitzpatrick, Neil McComb, Chris Henry, Paul Marshall, Ian Whitten, Simon Danielli

Bath:
15. Nick Abendanon, 14. Joe Maddock, 13. Matt Carraro, 12. Shontayne Hape, 11. Matt Banahan, 10. Ryan Davis, 9. Michael Claassens, 1. David Flatman, 2. Lee Mears, 3. Duncan Bell, 4. Stuart Hooper, 5. Danny Grewcock, 6. Andrew Beattie, 7. Jules Salvi, 8. Jonny Fa'amatuainu,
Replacements:
16. Pieter Dixon, 17. David Barnes, 18. Aaron Jarvis, 19. Peter Short, 20. Ben Skirving, 21. Scott Bemand, 22. Nicky Little, 23. Jack Cuthbert,

Sin Bin: Beattie (75).

Referee: James Jones (Wales)

Photos from ColinH

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