[tag=image]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/f ... spreys.gif[/tag][tag=content]In typical Friday night conditions in Belfast, Ulster leapt up into second place in the Guinness Pro12 and handed the Ospreys their first domestic defeat of the season with a 25-16 win at the Kingspan Stadium.
In extremely wet conditions and swirling wind, both sets of forwards imposed themselves on the game, yet it was Darren Cave who stole the plaudits with a brace of tries on his return to Ulster from international duty.
Franco van der Merwe snatched a try of his own while Paddy Jackson and Ian Humphreys contributed ten points between them in a win that takes Ulster level on points with the Ospreys at the top of the table.
A Dan Baker try and eleven points from fly-half Sam Davies were scant consolation for the Welsh side who lose their unbeaten record and go back to Swansea without even a losing bonus point.
Having been boosted by the release of Stuart Olding, Darren Cave and Craig Gilroy from Ireland duty in midweek, it was latter of the two that made the biggest impact early on, with Paddy Jackson’s fourth minute crossfield kick nearly finding Gilroy with the try line at his mercy.
Where the winger failed to cross the line, international compatriot Cave succeeded. After the Ulster pack, which was already looking dominant, won a scrum against the head in the Ospreys 22, an all-out assault on the Ospreys line ensued, with the Irish side looking lethal.
And when the forwards couldn’t barrel their way over, Cave popped up at the line to make the decisive dive over the whitewash which provided the hosts’ opening try of the night and the perfect start after ten minutes.
Paddy Jackson looked to be in fine kicking form despite the poor conditions, landing the conversion from Cave’s try and then two penalties to give Ulster a 13-0 lead after half an hour.
Up until then the Ospreys had offered surprisingly little, showing no signs of the side that had so far gone unbeaten in the Pro12. A Sam Davies penalty on 32 minutes reduced the arrears to 13-3, but the Welsh region looked very off colour.
Even with the penalty they were still posing Ulster no threats going forward, and nobody could argue with the fifteen point lead that the home side held at the break following Franco van der Merwe’s try in first half overtime.
In reality it was a pack effort as, from a penalty, Jackson went to the corner and van der Merwe was on hand to be the one to dot down from the driving maul to give Ulster an 18-3 lead at the break.
From offering nothing in the first period, it took the Ospreys just three minutes to open their account for the second half, and after being bested in the first half, it was the forwards who did all the effort to score.
It was a carbon copy of Ulster’s first half try, as the ball was gathered from a line-out inside the Ulster 22 and from there the visitors powered their way over with Dan Baker the one to get the touchdown.
The visitors were beginning to hit their stride and two Davies penalties midway through the half brought the Ospreys back into losing bonus point range at 18-16.
The bad news kept coming for Ulster as not only did they see their fifteen point half-time advantage cut to just two, they also lost Paddy Jackson to injury in the 63rd minute, with the 22-year old taken off clutching him arm.
But Neil Doak’s men still looked threatening and they nearly had a score through Stuart McCloskey late on, as the centre ran a beautiful line through the Ospreys’ defence only to be brought down just short.
The gap remained at two and it set up a nervy final ten minutes for both sides with only a penalty separating the teams on the scoreboard.
But it would be Ulster who would have the last laugh as they put together a long string of phases on the Ospreys’ try line and it was Darren Cave who again proved to be in the right place at the right time to score the decisive try.
The forwards have to be credited for the constant driving at the line and when the space finally became available, Cave was on hand to jink his way over for his second of the night and the try that sent the Ospreys home without a losing bonus point.
The scorers
For Ulster
Tries: Cave (2), van der Merwe
Cons: Jackson, Humphreys
Pens: Jackson (2)
For Ospreys
Tries: Baker
Cons: Davies
Pens: Davies (3)
ULSTER RUGBY
(15-9) Stuart Olding, Louis Ludik, Darren Cave, Stuart McCloskey, Craig Gilroy, Paddy Jackson (Ian Humphreys 63), Paul Marshall; (1-8) Callum Black (Andrew Warwick 67), Rob Herring, Wiehahn Herbst (Declan Fitzpatrick 67), Lewis Stevenson (Alan O’Connor 59), Franco van der Merwe, Clive Ross (Nick Williams 59), Sean Reidy, Roger Wilson.
Subs not used: John Andrew, Michael Heaney, Peter Nelson.
OSPREYS
(15-9) Dan Evans, Tom Grabham, Andrew Bishop (Hanno Dirksen 59), Ashley Beck, Aisea Natoga, Sam Davies, Martin Roberts; (1-8) Duncan Jones (Marc Thomas 38), Sam Parry (Matthew Dwyer 69), Dmitri Arhip (Cai Griffiths 59), Lloyd Peers (Rory Thornton 69), Rynier Bernardo, James King, Sam Lewis, Dan Baker.
Subs not used: Ieuan Jones, Dafydd Howells, Tom Habberfield.
Man of the Match: Darren Cave (Ulster)
Attendance: 16,923
Referee: Neil Hennessy (WRU)[/tag]
Match Report: Ulster Rugby 25-16 Ospreys
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