Match Reports

Match Report | Gloucester 38 Ulster 34

19th December 2020
Despite a resilient fight-back in the second half, a last-gasp try for Gloucester meant heartbreak for Ulster at Kingsholm on Saturday afternoon. The hosts were first to get on the scoreboard after an initial break by full-back Kyle Moyle led to Louis Rees-Zammit driving his way over in the left-hand corner. Lloyd Evans got the conversion from the touchline. Ulster responded quickly, however, getting themselves into a great position just outside the Gloucester posts. Billy Burns spotted a gap and ran a great line to cut through and score against his former club. John Cooney chipped over the conversion. Ulster looked set to score again after Michael Lowry sent the visitors on the charge, Stuart McCloskey going on a thundering run but he was brought down just short. Ulster earned a penalty and opted to kick for the corner, but the Cherry-and-Whites stole the ensuing line-out throw five metres out. Gloucester re-took the lead after an offside infringement by Ulster, and Lloyd Evans landed the penalty. The hosts were in the ascendancy, putting pressure on Ulster. In defending the maul, Rob Herring saw yellow after a number of Ulster transgressions. Gloucester went on the attack through their forwards with another maul; the referee signalled under the posts for a penalty try after the maul was brought down and Alan O’Connor also saw yellow. Ulster were now down to thirteen men for nine minutes. Ulster however did really well to manage that period, earning a penalty which Cooney duly obliged in knocking over to reduce the deficit to seven points. Just as O’Connor and Herring returned to the field, Ulster had another penalty opportunity from just inside their own half. Cooney stepped up but as he was about to kick, the ball fell off the tee and there was no time to reset, leaving it 17-10 going into the break. The home side came out firing in the second half, with centre Mark Atkinson getting in on the action in their advancing maul and bundling over to score. Lloyd Evans’ conversion went over after bouncing off the cross-bar. The Ulster men struck ten minutes later, with Nick Timoney drawing the Gloucester defence and making a great pass to send Michael Lowry through. Cooney’s conversion was good, bringing the gap to seven points once again. Ulster drew level after an onslaught on the Gloucester defence, with the visitors getting numerous penalty advantages – a deliberate knock-on from Louis Rees-Zammit led the referee to award the penalty try to Ulster and the Gloucester winger sent to the bin. John Cooney re-took the lead for Ulster through an excellent penalty kick in the 65th minute. He then followed this up two minutes later with a searing solo try in the left-hand corner and nailing the conversion to put Ulster 10 up. Five minutes from the end, Gloucester got a penalty try after Ethan McIlroy - who had just come on to make his European debut - was yellow-carded for a deliberate knock-on. Gloucester had their tails up and started to turn the screw on Ulster, pounding their line well into the red on the clock. Despite excellent defence from the Ulster men, they were just unable to contend with the Cherry-and-Whites’ attack, and George Barton eventually got over to score in the 84th minute, dashing Ulster’s hopes. Full-time score: Gloucester 38 Ulster 34

MOMENT OF THE MATCH

STAR OF THE MATCH

SCORERS

Gloucester Tries: Louis Rees-Zammit, penalty try (2), Mark Atkinson, George Barton Cons: Lloyd Evans (2) Penalties: Lloyd Evans Ulster Tries: Billy Burns, Michael Lowry, penalty try, John Cooney Cons: John Cooney (3) Penalties: John Cooney (2)

LINE-UPS

Gloucester (15-9) Kyle Moyle, Charlie Sharples, Chris Harris, Mark Atkinson, Louis Rees-Zammit, Lloyd Evans, Charlie Chapman; (1-8) Val Rapava-Ruskin, Jack Singleton, Ciaran Knight, Ed Slater, Matias Alemanno, Jordy Reid, Lewis Ludlow (Capt.), Ruan Ackermann. Replacements: Henry Walker, Alex Seville, Jamal Ford-Robinson, Alex Craig, Seb Nagle-Taylor, Toby Venner, George Barton, Henry Trinder. Ulster (15-9) Michael Lowry, Matt Faddes, James Hume, Stuart McCloskey, Jacob Stockdale, Billy Burns (Capt.), John Cooney;  (1-8) Eric O’Sullivan, Rob Herring, Marty Moore, Alan O’Connor, David O’Connor, Sean Reidy, Jordi Murphy, Nick Timoney.  Replacements: John Andrew, Kyle McCall, Tom O’Toole, Matty Rea, Greg Jones, Alby Mathewson, Ian Madigan, Ethan McIlroy.  

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