[tag=image]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/e ... go.svg.png[/tag][tag=content]Ulster A picked up a vital away win in their British & Irish Cup pool as they overcame the Scarlets Premiership Select 27-19 at the Parc y Scarlets.
Captain Willie Faloon began the try scoring for Ulster A with a try off the back of a driving maul after fly-half Sam Windsor opened the visitors’ account with an early penalty.
The Scarlets struck back through a try from centre Josh Lewis but tries either side of half time from John Andrew and Johnny Murphy consolidated Ulster A’s lead, while Ben Leung’s try for the hosts kept them in touching distance.
A second try from Johnny Murphy ensured Ulster A would take home all five points from the encounter, while a last minute Dion Jones try was nothing more than consolation for the Scarlets.
Alex Codling’s men got off to the perfect start as fly-half Windsor slotted an early penalty to give the visitors an early lead.
The Ulstermen had the stronger pack of the two teams and they put that to full use, driving over a powerful rolling maul which gave captain Faloon his try midway through the half, however Windsor could not convert.
Back came the Scarlets though, and they reduced the gap to just a point after centre Lewis crashed over from close range under the posts, with fly-half Dan Jones converting.
They could not hold onto that lead however, and Ulster A went straight up the other end of the pitch and scored almost immediately through hooker John Andrew.
Things got even better for the province when Scarlets winger Gavin Thomas was sin-binned just before half time, with the referee deciding that his knock on was deliberate and in a dangerous area.
After the break it was more of the same for the visitors who extended their lead further just ten minutes into the second period when Ulster A stole the ball on the Scarlets line which allowed Johnny Murphy to cross for the third try.
The Scarlets refused to go away though as substitute Ben Leung was able to dive over the line for a try, but crucially Jones was unable to convert the prop’s score which kept space between the two teams.
With the gap to play with, Ulster A were able to wrap up the bonus point through Johnny Murphy’s second score which also confirmed an important win for Codling’s team.
There was enough time for the Scarlets to pick up a final consolation score as Steffan Hughes’ long pass was accurate enough to send over winger Dion Jones, but it was too little too late for the home side.
The scorers
For Scarlets
Tries: Lewis, Leung, Di Jones
Con: Da Jones (2)
For Ulster A
Tries: Faloon, Andrew, J Murphy (2)
Cons: Windsor (2)
Pen: Windsor
SCARLETS PREMIERSHIP SELECT
(15-9) Will Thomas, Dion Jones, Steffan Hughes, Josh Lewis, Gavin Thomas, Dan Jones, Connor Lloyd; (1-8) Rhys Thomas, Ryan Elias, Will Taylor, Ben Thompson, Josh Helps, Jack Jones, Shaun Evans, Trystan Lloyd.
Replacements: Rhys Fawcett, Taylor Davies, Ben Leung, Lee Taylor, Stuart Worrel, Kieran Hardy, Jacob Cowley.
Yellow card: Gavin Thomas
ULSTER A
(15-9) Johnny McPhillips, Aaron Cairns, Callum Patterson, Mark Best, Robert Lyttle, Sam Windsor, Dave Shanahan; (1-8) Callum Black, John Andrew, Jonny Simpson, Lewis Stevenson, Matthew Rea, Stephen Mulholland, Willie Faloon, Sean Reidy.
Replacements: Johnny Murphy, Ruaidhri Murphy, Ross Kane, John Donnan, Conor Joyce, Paul Rowley, Andrew Magrath.[/tag]
Match Report: Scarlets Premiership Select 19-27 Ulster A
Moderator: Moderators
