[tag=image]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/f ... spreys.gif[/tag][tag=content]Ulster fell to their third defeat in four matches, going down 31-20 to the Ospreys at the Liberty Stadium on Saturday and slipping to fifth in the Guinness Pro12 standings.
The final scoreline is not a true reflection on a very poor performance from Ulster, and does a disservice to the Ospreys who had the game won just ten minutes into the second half.
It’s a result that lifts the Welsh side to the summit of the Pro12 having picked up the four try bonus point through two tries from man of the match Rhys Webb and scores from Dan Biggar and Hanno Dirksen.
Ulster on the other hand were very poor for the first three quarters, and only sparked into life when the game was beyond them with tries for Rob Herring and Tommy Bowe putting the gloss on a difficult night for them.
The home side got off to the perfect start after two minutes and set the tone for the night when out-half Biggar kicked them into a 3-0 lead with the opening penalty of the game.
By contrast, his opposite number Humphreys got off to a woeful start with the boot, completely mishitting a kick to the corner when he could have got the Irish province into a promising position.
It was the visitors who were looking more promising in the early exchanges regardless and some neat offloading saw them find frequent gaps, and only a late knock on by Tommy Bowe at the line prevented them from scoring an early try.
No-one could argue when Humphreys levelled proceedings at 3-all after 14 minutes which reflected how the game had gone in the first quarter.
A long-winded move then yielded the opening five-pointer of the evening for the hosts – Eli Walker did superbly well to evade Darren Cave when under pressure, and eventually the Welsh side found the gap to set Dan Biggar away for the try.
Ulster were proving to be their own worst enemies. Several missed tackles led to the try being scored and then another missed penalty to touch, this time from Ruan Pienaar, led to another chance being spurned.
Meanwhile the Ospreys were finding a lot of success on the wings with Walker and Dirksen able to capitalise on some extremely narrow defending from the Ulstermen.
Just before half-time, the Ospreys got their reward for some relentless pressing as a line break from Rynier Bernardo created the space for Rhys Webb to cross and give the Swansea-based side a 17-3 advantage.
However on the stroke of half-time, in controversial circumstances Ulster were denied a lifeline from a limp first half.
Ian Humphreys thought he had the try that would reduce the half-time arrears to just seven, but the TMO intervened to declare that there had been a knock on from Josh Matavesi earlier in the play, thereby negating an advantage the referee was playing earlier in the move and disallowing the try.
Much like at the Parc y Scarlets six days previous, Ulster put aside that disappointment and were the first to get on the scoreboard after the break, only this time it was a penalty from Ian Humphreys three minutes in.
That’s where the comeback ended though as Rhys Webb crossed for his second try of the night, albeit in even more controversial circumstances to go with those before the break.
Eli Walker again found some space on the wing and although the winger lost control of the ball, Justin Tipuric was on hand to offload to Webb who scored, but replays showed that the ball was nudged forward off the arm of Walker.
Nevertheless the try was awarded, and it took just 15 minutes of the second half for the hosts to gain the try bonus point when Hanno Dirksen drove over from close range after a strong Ospreys scrum.
Biggar continued his 100% record off the tee and the Welsh side led 31-6 after just 56 minutes, with the bonus point to boot.
Whatever you could say about Ulster by now, their determination could not be faulted and a driving maul took them over the line midway through the second half with substitute Rob Herring the scorer.
Somehow Ulster were now the dominant side, putting their powerful scrum to good use, and a strike move from the back of a maul sent Tommy Bowe over for the visitors’ second score of the night with 15 minutes to play.
It was much too little too late though, and Ulster head back to Belfast with their tails between their legs and a lot of work to do ahead of their Boxing Day interprovincial clash against Connacht.
The scorers
For Ospreys
Tries: Biggar, Webb (2), Dirksen
Cons: Biggar (4)
Pens: Biggar
For Ulster
Tries: Herring, Bowe
Cons: Humphreys (2)
Pens: Humphreys (2)
OSPREYS
(15-9) Dan Evans, Hanno Dirksen, Ashley Beck (Andrew Bishop 62), Josh Matavesi, Eli Walker, Dan Biggar, Rhys Webb (Martin Roberts 56); (1-8) Marc Thomas (Gareth Thomas 67), Scott Baldwin (Sam Parry 56), Dmitri Arhip (Dan Suter 79), Rynier Bernardo (Dan Lydiate 48), Alun-Wyn Jones, James King, Justin Tipuric, Tyler Ardron.
Subs not used: Sam Lewis, Sam Davies.
ULSTER RUGBY
(15-9) Louis Ludik, Tommy Bowe, Darren Cave (Peter Nelson 62), Luke Marshall (Stuart Olding 62), Michael Allen, Ian Humphreys, Ruan Pienaar (Paul Marshall 40); (1-8) Andrew Warwick (Callum Black 68), Rory Best (Rob Herring 56), Declan Fitzpatrick (Bronson Ross 68), Dan Tuohy, Franco van der Merwe (Alan O’Connor 56), Robbie Diack (Sean Reidy 48), Clive Ross, Roger Wilson.
Man of the Match: Rhys Webb (Ospreys)
Referee: Neil Paterson (SRU)[/tag]
Match Report: Ospreys 31-20 Ulster Rugby
Moderator: Moderators
