OSPREYS 0 ULSTER 8

Ulster left the Morganstone Brewery Field tonight with a crucial scalp in the Guinness Pro14, grinding out a 0-8 victory over the Ospreys to move up to third in Conference B, only two points behind second-placed Edinburgh. A Stuart McCloskey try on the occasion of his 100th cap, topped up by a John Cooney penalty on the stroke of full-time, made the difference in a war of attrition which may not remain long in the memory, but will surely please Head Coach Dan McFarland and defence coach Jared Payne in terms of the province’s stubborn resistance throughout the 80 minutes. Iain Henderson’s return from injury, coupled with the release from international duty of Cooney and Jordi Murphy, gave McFarland’s matchday XV a formidable look on the occasion of McCloskey’s milestone appearance. Henderson slotted in at lock alongside captain Alan O’Connor, behind a front three of props Eric O’Sullivan and Marty Moore, and hooker Rob Herring. In the back row, Clive Ross won his first start of the season at blindside, with Murphy at openside and Nick Timoney at Number Eight. In the backline Michael Lowry donned the number 10 shirt for the first time, with Peter Nelson slotting into the youngster’s habitual position of full-back, and wingers Angus Kernohan and Louis Ludik completing the back three. McCloskey combined with Darren Cave in the centre, while Cooney, a try-scorer in his cameo role for Ireland against England a fortnight ago, started at scrum-half. Ulster enjoyed virtually all the possession in the opening 10 minutes, with Lowry and Cooney combining particularly well, and the scrum-half eventually forcing a penalty on 15 minutes – only for the decision to be reversed on the recommendation of the TMO on account of a neck roll by Henderson in the maul. Ospreys came into their own at the start of the second quarter, wing Hanno Dirksen and centre Cory Allen making good ground until Ulster forced the turnover on 25 minutes, with Kernohan eventually crossing the try-line on the half-hour, but just knocking on from McCloskey's pass as he went to ground. The hosts cleared their lines well from the resulting scrum, and despite more concerted possession Ulster produced only one more try-scoring opportunity in the first half – which came to naught when man-of-the-match McCloskey unfortunately knocked on two metres from the line after promising mauling from the visitors. Half-Time Score Ospreys 0 Ulster 0 The breakthrough came seven minutes into the second half, Ulster’s newest centurion making the score with a strong break down the right flank and neat offload to Nelson, before picking up again once the full-back was brought to ground, and touching down despite the attentions of Ospreys wing Luke Morgan. Cooney’s conversion attempt rebounded back off the posts to keep the score at five points to nil, but the visitors continued to call the tune, coming close again on the hour through a rolling maul and, although possession was eventually lost, Ospreys offered little ball in hand and soon surrendered control. An offside from Dirksen on 67 minutes offered Ulster the opportunity to extend the lead to eight, but the decision was made to go to the corner instead – a choice that was soon rued when Ospreys turned the ball over within 60 seconds of the put-in. Again, however, Ospreys failed to punish Ulster’s wastefulness, until Ludik was pulled up on 72 minutes for side entry – and the hosts followed the trend by kicking to touch rather than the posts. Ulster resisted the first drive, Lowry feeling the full effect of a collision while defending bravely – a clash which saw him replaced by James Hume with five minutes to go – but a fantastically sustained defensive effort at the restart eventually brought the turnover. Then a penalty at scrum-time with 90 seconds remaining wrapped the victory up, Cooney taking every second of the allotted time to steady himself, fix his aim and finally dispatch the three points right on the 80-minute mark, thereby denying Ospreys the time for a restart and the faint hope of salvaging a losing bonus point. Full-Time Score Ospreys 0 Ulster 8 Ospreys (15- 9) Dan Evans; Hanno Dirksen, Cory Allen, Tiaan Thomas-Wheeler, Luke Morgan; Sam Davies, Matthew Aubrey (1 – 8) Jordan Lay, Scott Baldwin, Tom Botha, Lloyd Ashley, Bradley Davies, Olly Cracknell, Sam Cross, James King Replacements (16- 23) Scott Otten, Rowan Jenkins, Ma’afu Fia, Will Griffiths, Rob McCusker, Reuben Morgan-Williams, Luke Price, Keelan Giles Ulster (15 – 9) Peter Nelson; Angus Kernohan, Darren Cave, Stuart McCloskey, Louis Ludik; Michael Lowry, John Cooney (1 – 8) Eric O’Sullivan, Rob Herring, Marty Moore, Alan O’Connor, Iain Henderson, Clive Ross, Jordi Murphy, Nick Timoney Replacements (16- 23) John Andrew, Andrew Warwick, Tom O’Toole, Kieran Treadwell, Sean Reidy, David Shanahan, James Hume, Robert Lyttle