Match Report: Cardiff Blues 23-13 Ulster Rugby

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Match Report: Cardiff Blues 23-13 Ulster Rugby

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[tag=image]http://cdn.soticservers.net/tools/image ... 250/14.png[/tag][tag=content]Ulster suffered their second consecutive defeat and came away from Cardiff with nothing as they fell to a 23-13 defeat to the Blues at the Cardiff Arms Park.

Two late tries from Rhys Patchell and Aled Summerhill secured the win for the Blues while Patchell also contributed ten points with the boot as the Welsh side picked up a deserved victory.

Ulster had led 13-6 with ten minutes to play through a Craig Gilroy try and two Paddy Jackson penalties but they could not hold on as they put in another sub-standard performance that was punished.

Ulster were dealt an early blow when they lost Ireland international centre Luke Marshall to injury after just six minutes and they should have fallen behind a minute later, but Patchell missed a kick at goal after a scrum infringement.

The visitors grew into the game as time went on, however Paddy Jackson couldn’t make their improved play count as he saw a kick sail wide of the uprights in the 18th minute.

It was a first half of errors on the part of both teams with neither side showing much in terms of attacking nous but Ulster did manage to put enough pressure on the Blues defence to squeeze a penalty which Jackson converted on the half hour mark.

Just before the break Jackson then doubled his tally for the afternoon with a second penalty after some excellent work on the ground by Pete Browne earned the Irishmen the turnover.

On the stroke of half-time the hosts finally got on the scoreboard and halved Ulster’s lead when Patchell slotted over his second attempt of the game and then two minutes after the restart he levelled the scores with a further three-pointer.

It was the visitors who got the opening try of the game though and it was Sammy Arnold who brushed off a slack Blues tackle to break away from the defensive line and allowed him to feed winger Craig Gilroy who strolled under the posts for the score.

Despite Les Kiss’ men edging the affair, the Blues were still threatening and full-back Dan Fish nearly found his way over the line after an excellent break from Patchell however a superb covering tackle from Stuart Olding held him just short.

Ulster’s defence on the line continued to hold firm, however they were unable to prevent Patchell from adding another three points to the hosts’ total through a penalty with 15 minutes left to go.

Jackson had the opportunity to restore Ulster’s lead with a penalty earned straight from the restart however he saw a straightforward shot at goal pull wide before Patchell also missed a long-range effort on goal a few minutes later.

It wasn’t to matter though as Patchell made amends with the winning try eight minutes from time as the Blues counter-attacked with pace and after Rey Lee-Lo made a lot of ground he was able to give the ball inside to Patchell to score.

And it was Aled Summerhill who got the late try that meant Ulster would be heading back to Belfast with no points for their efforts as the Blues went through the phases before some slick handling set the centre over in the corner for to wrap up the scoring.

The scorers

For Cardiff
Tries: Patchell, Summerhill
Cons: Patchell (2)
Pens: Patchell (3)

For Ulster
Try: Gilroy
Con: Jackson
Pens: Jackson (2)

CARDIFF BLUES
(15-9) Dan Fish (Jarrod Evans 59), Blaine Scully, Aled Summerhill, Rey Lee-Lo, Tom James, Rhys Patchell, Tomos Williams (Lewis Jones 65); (1-8) Brad Thyer (Thomas Davies 75), Matthew Rees (Kristian Dacey 67), Salesi Ma’afu (Taufa’ao Filise 40), Jarrad Hoeata (Macauley Cook 72), James Down, Josh Turnbull, Ellis Jenkins, Manoa Vosawai (Josh Navidi 61).

Sub not used: Garyn Smith.

ULSTER RUGBY
(15-9) Stuart Olding, Craig Gilroy, Luke Marshall (Darren Cave 6), Sammy Arnold (Rory Scholes 69), Jacob Stockdale, Paddy Jackson, Ruan Pienaar (Dave Shanahan 79); (1-8) Callum Black (Kyle McCall 48), John Andrew, Bronson Ross (Ricky Lutton 40), Pete Browne, Franco van der Merwe (Roger Wilson 65), Robbie Diack, Chris Henry (Sean Reidy 79), Nick Williams.

Sub not used: Jonny Murphy.

Man of the Match: Rey Lee-Lo (Cardiff Blues)
Referee: John Lacey (Ireland)[/tag]
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