Match Report: Cardiff Blues 9-26 Ulster Rugby

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Match Report: Cardiff Blues 9-26 Ulster Rugby

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[tag=image]http://cdn.soticservers.net/tools/image ... 250/14.png[/tag][tag=content]Ulster walked away from the BT Sport Cardiff Arms Park with a comfortable 26-9 victory over the Cardiff Blues tonight to give them their first away win of their 2014/15 Guinness Pro12 campaign.

Paddy Jackson and Rhys Patchell traded three penalties in the first half before Jackson landed a further effort just before the break and then Dan Tuohy and substitute Ian Humphreys wrapped up the win with a try each.

It was a closely fought battle for most of the match, and even though they still weren’t firing on all cylinders, the Irish province closed the game out masterfully to take their second win of the season and climb to second in the Pro12 table.

Before the game there were worries over the inexperience of Andrew Warwick up against Welsh veteran Adam Jones but those fears were dispelled early on as the Ballymena prop got the squeeze on at the first scrum and forced the penalty, which Jackson converted.

Despite the visitors being on top with the returning Jackson pulling the strings from fly-half, it was Cardiff who struck back midway through the half with a surge into the Ulster 22 yielding a penalty for Rhys Patchell.

Nick Williams and Tommy Bowe were impressing for the Irish province, and soon after Patchell levelled the game they linked up superbly to set Paul Marshall away to the line only for the scrum-half to be caught by the defenders tracking back.

But much like against Zebre it was little errors that were costing the visitors and they could count themselves very lucky that a break away from danger man Patchell was halted at the 22 metre line when it threatened to be much more.

Rather unsurprisingly it was a break down in communication between Williams and Marshall that gifted Cardiff their second penalty of the evening, the ball being lost at the base of the scrum and Williams being caught offside.

Not that the hosts’ lead lasted all that long, a similarly stupid error from Fijian born back rower Manoa Vosawai, who entered illegally at a ruck, gave Paddy Jackson a simple kick to level the game once more after half an hour.

In fact, silly penalties were becoming the norm of the game as Gavin Evans took out the onrushing Robbie Diack at a ruck, then a collective effort saw Ulster take down an effective Cardiff driving maul allowing Jackson and Patchell to trade kicks before the half time break.

But it would be the Ulstermen that would hold the lead going into the interval as a dominant driving maul was hauled down and Jackson was on hand to ensure that it was 12-9 in the visitors’ favour at half time.

The rest period did nothing to improve either side’s discipline with both teams conceding several early penalties between them, however both Patchell and Jackson were off target with early efforts on goal.

But Ulster had now realised they held a significant advantage in the forwards and from an attack set up by a driving maul, Paul Marshall timed his pass to perfection to set Dan Tuohy through to score the opening try of the night.

They say you’re most vulnerable when you’ve just scored, and that was very evident as the Blues set about scything through the Ulster defensive line and they were guilty of passing up a great opportunity to strike back immediately as Richard Smith couldn’t hold onto Patchell’s pass inches from the line.

The introduction of Welsh international Lloyd Williams at scrum-half provided Cardiff with some much-needed pace in the backs however they were struggling to find any real penetration through a solid Ulster defence.

On the other hand, when Ulster got a sniff of the ball, they looked lethal as a lightning quick counter attack saw Ian Humphreys put Tommy Bowe over for what he thought was the second try of the night, only for referee Neil Paterson to deem the substitute’s pass drifted forward after 63 minutes.

Some resolute defending was required from the Ulstermen to hold out their hosts, who sensed that possibly their luck may be turning, and their dogged tackling was rewarded with a late try to seal the game.

With the Blues attacking from their own 22 to try and claw back the game late on, Ian Humphreys latched onto a loose pass from Gareth Davies and sauntered over to seal a deserved win for Ulster.

The scorers

For Cardiff
Pens: Patchell (3)

For Ulster
Tries: Tuohy, Humphreys
Cons: Jackson, Humphreys
Pens: Jackson (4)

CARDIFF BLUES
(15-9) Rhys Patchell (Geraint Walsh 77), Alex Cuthbert, Adam Thomas (Cory Allen 66), Gavin Evans, Richard Smith, Gareth Davies, Lewis Jones (Lloyd Williams 54); (1-8) Sam Hobbs (Scott Andrews 57), Matthew Rees (Rhys Williams 63), Adam Jones (Taufa’ao Filise 52), Jarrad Hoeata (Macauley Cook 66), Filo Paulo, Josh Turnbull, Josh Navidi, Manoa Vosawai (Ellis Jenkins 69).

ULSTER RUGBY
(15-9) Louis Ludik, Andrew Trimble, Darren Cave (Craig Gilroy 59), Stuart Olding, Tommy Bowe, Paddy Jackson (Ian Humphreys 59), Paul Marshall (Michael Heaney 75); (1-8) Andrew Warwick (Callum Black 40), Rory Best (Rob Herring 75), Wiehahn Herbst (Bronson Ross 75), Dan Tuohy (Neil McComb 60), Franco van der Merwe, Robbie Diack, Chris Henry, Nick Williams (Roger Wilson 59).

Attendance: 7,000
Man of the Match: Rory Best (Ulster)
Referee: Neil Paterson (SRU)[/tag]
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