Ulster left Wales with a bonus point after a narrow defeat to Ospreys at Swansea.com Stadium as they were beaten 19-17 in Round 10 of the United Rugby Championship.
Marcus Rea scored a try to help Ulster hold the lead at the break, before the game opened up in the second half. Tom Stewart came off the bench to touch down, and Jake Flannery looked to have won it with a late penalty before Dan Edwards dropped a goal at the death to decide the game.
The dramatic finish didn’t look on the cards after a scrappy start to the afternoon which saw opportunities limited for both sides. The hosts had the first chance to register points on the board, but Edwards pulled his kick at goal beyond the posts with 6 minutes on the clock.
Ulster then went close with 21 minutes gone thanks to some quick thinking off the boot from Flannery with the fly-half using a penalty to launch a cross-field kick over to the left channel, but Jacob Stockdale was unable to ground the ball.
After half an hour, Edwards had another kick at goal and this time he was successful to give Ospreys the lead. At this stage of the game, Ulster captain Iain Henderson was replaced by Cormac Izuchukwu, which came shortly after Scott Wilson had come on for Marty Moore.
The first try of the game came in the 34th minute after the Ulster pack showed their power after a set-piece. It came after Ospreys indiscipline led to a penalty, allowing Flannery to kick deep into the 22.
From the resulting lineout the Ulster forwards moved the ball forward several times with quick drives for the line before openside Marcus Rea burrowed over from close range. From left of the sticks, Nathan Doak slotted his kick to make it 7-3.
Edwards kicked another penalty for the Welsh side to make it 7-6 at the break.
Ospreys 8 Morgan Morse was shown a yellow card 8 minutes into the second half for a deliberate knock-on and Flannery’s kick into touch allowed the Ulster pack to have another go from the lineout. Tom Stewart, who had just come off the bench, looked to have grounded the ball from the maul but was judged to have been held up over the line.
Edwards kicked Ospreys into a 9-7 lead in the 56th minute before lock James Ratti was shown a yellow card to temporarily send them down to 13 men.
Ulster’s Flannery again bombed the penalty deep into the 22, and this time there was no stopping Tom Stewart from touching down after the lineout maul for his 8th score of the season, with Doak slotting the extras from wide on the right.
It was then 14 versus 14 when Ulster sub Luke Marshall was yellow carded for a high tackle in the 62nd minute, and Ospreys went on the attack.
Tom Stewart managed to steal the ball from the breakdown close to his own goal line and smacked an enormous clearing kick into the vacant Ospreys half. It bobbled all the way deep into the 22 before it was gathered by a defender who was smashed into touch by the chasing Dave Shanahan.
Ulster came close in the following phases but Ospreys suddenly broke away after an interception and the counter attack was finished by Kieran Williams and converted by Edwards to give them a 2-point lead with 66 played.
Ulster moved ahead late in the game when they claimed the lead in the 76th minute. It came thanks to a monstrous penalty from Flannery, who nudged the ball over with the tee sitting just inside his own half to make it 17-16 to the visitors.
It looked like it had won the game, only for Edwards to score a drop goal just as the clock ticked into the red to win the game for Ospreys.
Scorers
Ospreys
Tries: Williams
Cons: Edwards
Pen: Edwards (3)
Drop Goal: Edwards
Yellow: Morris, Ratti
Ulster
Tries: Marcus Rea, Tom Stewart
Cons: Nathan Doak (2)
Pens: Flannery
Yellow: Luke Marshall
Teams
Ospreys
(15-9) Jack Walsh; Mat Protheroe, Dom Morris, Keiran Williams, Keelan Giles; Dan Edwards, Reuben Morgan-Williams
(1-8) Nicky Smith, Sam Parry, Tom Botha, James Ratti, Victor Sekekete, Harri Deaves, Justin Tipuric, Morgan Morse.
Replacements: Lewis Lloyd, Rhys Henry, Ben Warren, Lewis Jones, Will Hickey, Cameron Jones, Alex Cuthbert, Evardi Boshoff
Ulster
(15-9) Will Addison, Ethan McIlroy, James Hume, Jude Postlethwaite, Jacob Stockdale, Jake Flannery, Nathan Doak
(1-8) Andrew Warwick, John Andrew, Marty Moore, Harry Sheridan, Iain Henderson (C), David McCann, Marcus Rea, Nick Timoney
Replacements: Tom Stewart, Steven Kitshoff, Scott Wilson, Cormac Izuchukwu, Matty Rea, Dave Shanahan, Luke Marshall, Rob Baloucoune