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Ulternative Alster Fan Club
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Match Report |
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Still in with a chance! One more round to go and still everything to play for! It seems to have been a very long time since we entered the last round of the Heineken cup pool stages with more than the slimmest mathematical chance of taking any further part in the competition. But three good home wins and a change to the qualification process for the Challenge cup means that Ulster have a fair chance of being involved in a quarter final of one of the competitions if they can go to Bath and come away with a win next week. In previous games this season Edinburgh have got the better of us through the simple tactic of pressurising the Ulster defence waiting for indiscipline to set in and then converting the inevitable penalty chances though the precision weapon of Chris Patterson’s boot so the strong winds forecast for Friday night were one think in our favour but Ulster were going to need more than that to win this game. Edinburgh kicked off with the wind for first half from the Aquinas end and what followed was twenty minutes of perfect forward oriented rugby where the Ulster pack laid down the marker that ultimately won the game. Not only did they keep possession through numerous phases but they did so without conceding the penalties that would have cost them the game. It was not a night for kicking but Ulster played brilliantly with ball-in-hand varying the point of attack each time taking the ball up time and time again frustrating the Edinburgh defence. Edinburgh’s prop David Young was sin-binned early on for pulling down an effective Ulster maul but Ulster were unable to turn the advantage on the field into an advantage on the scoreboard and he returned to the field with the match still scoreless. First blood went to Edinburgh when Ulster finally did concede a kickable penalty and the redoubtable Chris Patterson duly obliged by collecting the points. Edinburgh’s best move of the half cam from a clever cross-field kick which almost delivered a try but Tim Visser couldn’t quite get on the end of it and the Ulster defence was equal to the task of closing out the threat. Edinburgh’s lead was to be short-lived. The wily Isaac Boss took a quick tap penalty just inside Ulster’s 10m line and caught the Scots napping, weaving his way up beyond the Edinburgh 10 m line before he was finally tackled. Support arrived just in the nick of time. Edinburgh looked to have turned the ball over but it spilled loose and Ferris and Brady secured it for the home team. A wild pass back from Tom court seemed to spell the end of the move but Boss gathered again to offload to Dan Tuohy who took the ball up the 22 and then delivered the scoring pass to Darren Cave Ulster 5 – 3 Edinburgh. A Second penalty from Patterson nosed Edinburgh back in front but Ulster continued to defend like Trojans and were equal to every threat the Scots could muster. As they bore down on the Ulster line Ulster scrabbled the ball back and after a quick time-check with the ref from iHumph cleared to touch to close out the half with the Scots a mere 1 point ahead despite the wind advantage. It was never going to be enough. Ulster might have sealed the deal from that point but for the unfortunate sin-binning of stalwart Stephen Ferris for failing to roll away while being pinned into the ruck by the Edinburgh pack. Edinburgh took advantage of their numerical superiority (as Ulster had failed to in the first half) and moved the ball from side to side stretching the Ulster defence to the point where Jim Thompson was able to cross the line. Patterson added the conversion and all thought of the bonus point were pushed to the back of the mind as securing the win started to look in doubt. Thankfully Ulster were next to score through a Humphreys penalty and one more form replacement kicker O’Connor say the home side safely home with Edinburgh denied a bonus point. Overall a very satisfactory night at Ravenhill. Boss was my MOTM for his awareness in making the two tries and for his perfect relieving kick – possibly the only time he kicked all match when he cleared the ball from inside the Ulster 22 to space inside the Edinburgh 22 in the second half. Special mention must also go to BJ who was still on the field after 70 minutes, to big Dan Tuohy for another gut-busting performance, to Andrew Trimble who is surely pushing his way back into contention for Ireland with his best form in years. But ALL the players stood up and were counted and with one final big push at Bath next week-end we could be looking at a European quarter final of one kind or another for the first time in 10 Seasons. Ulster scrum-half Isaac Boss "It wasn't ideal conditions but four points any which way is ideal for us. "We worked hard in defence which also helped set up a few scoring opportunities for us. "Hopefully, Bath or Edinburgh will do us a favour over the next two weekends. "We've still got to show a bit more consistency. We've been a bit up and down in our performances. Edinburgh fly-half Chris Paterson "There was so much heart and desire in the second half but it was 40 minutes too late. "Our first-half performance was unacceptable. Ulster controlled it particularly well into the wind but we were passive. "The guts and effort in the second half mean nothing because we let ourselves down in the first 40 minutes." Ulster: J Smith; A Trimble, D Cave, P Wallace, S Danielli; I Humphreys, I Boss; T Court, N Brady, BJ Botha; D Tuohy, E O'Donoghue; S Ferris, D Pollock, C Henry (capt). Edinburgh: C Paterson (capt), J Thompson, B Cairns, J Houston, T Visser, P Godman, G Laidlaw, A Jacobsen, R Ford, D Young, S MacLeod, J Hamilton, S Newlands, A MacDonald, R Grant
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