Jared Payne scores Ulster's bonus point try in the 78th minute.
By Neil Carnduff
Ulster grew into a tricky encounter this afternoon in Italy, overcoming some staunch resistance from Benetton Treviso to snatch a four-try victory in the dying minutes with Luke Marshall, Craig Gilroy, Robbie Diack and Jared Payne all getting on the scoresheet.
Treviso enjoyed the better of the first half although Ulster took all their chances to go in ahead at the break, and in the second period the Italians were no match for a reinvigorated side who now sit in a promising position in Pool Five, with 18 points in the bag in advance of difficult clashes coming up against Montpellier and Leicester Tigers.
Both teams struggled to get going in a foggy Stadio Monigo, although an excellent combination between Paddy Jackson and Gilroy almost saw the winger break loose of the Treviso defence on nine minutes. Jackson kicked over a difficult penalty a minute later, somehow finding the posts despite the very poor visibility at pitch level.
The match progressed as a much tighter affair than last week’s 48 – 0 landslide at Ravenhill, and indeed a good steal by Antonio Pavanello at Rob Herring’s lineout got the Italians into a promising position on 28 minutes, from where Alberto Di Bernardo equalised courtesy of a central penalty.
However, Treviso infringed straight from the restart and, although Jackson’s penalty veered well wide, solid Ulster scrummaging moments later got the visitors back in the danger zone, and they took full advantage of their rare foray into the Italian ‘22’ as Payne dinked a lovely kick down the wing for Marshall to collect and ground his fifth try of the season.
Jackson’s conversion missed but the number 10 was still able to have the last word of the half, hitting a sublime long-distance penalty with the final ball of the period to extend his side’s lead to eight points.
Half-Time Score Benetton Treviso 3 Ulster 11
Ulster enjoyed a sustained period of possession at the opening of the second period, capped by a further Jackson penalty on 46 minutes, taking the out-half over the 100-point mark in the Heineken Cup. In worsening conditions, Ruan Pienaar missed a 54th-minute penalty from distance, but Ulster kept the pressure on and got a further shot in the arm just before the hour as Brendan Williams saw yellow for interfering with an Ulster pass without making an attempt to catch the ball.
But Ulster struggled to make the most of their numerical superiority as the game got bogged down in several midfield scrums, until the 62nd minute, when Payne once more spotted an opening on the wing, and this time Gilroy’s pace took him clear of the Treviso defence for try number two.
Jackson added the extras before Luke McClean joined Williams in the sinbin for deliberately coming in from the side, and with the Italians now severely depleted it wasn’t long before Diack touched down the third after a strong drive from Sean Doyle, backed up by the brawn of John Afoa.
Another Jackson conversion dispatched, Ulster thoughts in the final 10 minutes to the prospect of a fourth try and bonus point to further strengthen their lead of the group, and Payne duly provided the icing on the cake with two minutes remaining after Andrew Trimble had picked up a bobbling ball on the ground and supplied the full-back on the left wing.
A disappointing send-off for the departing Treviso coach Franco Smith, then, but Ulster go from strength to strength and sit atop Pool Five with a very healthy 18 points with two games to go.
Full-Time Score Benetton Treviso 3 Ulster 35
Benetton Treviso (15 – 9) B Williams; L Nitoglia, M Campagnaro, A Sgarbi, L McLean; A Di Bernardo, T Botes; (1 – 8) M Rizzo, L Ghiraldini, L Cittadini, A Pavanello (c), C van Zyl, A Zanni, M Vosawai, R Barbieri.
Replacements (16 – 23) G Maistri, A de Marchi, I Fernandez Rouyet, V Bernabo, D Budd, P Derbyshire, E Gori, J Ambrosini
Ulster (15 – 9) J Payne; A Trimble, D Cave, L Marshall, C Gilroy; P Jackson, R Pienaar (1 – 8) T Court, R Herring, J Afoa, J Muller (c), D Tuohy, R Diack, S Doyle, R Wilson
Replacements (16 – 23) N Annett, C Black, D Fitzpatrick, N McComb, M McComish, P Marshall, M Allen, D McIlwaine