Cooney And Stockdale Combine To Seal Winning Start For Ulster

A John Cooney masterclass – and a match-saving interception from Jacob Stockdale right at the death – saw Ulster make a promising start to their Heineken Champions Cup campaign, edging out Bath 17-16 in a veritable tug-of-war at the Recreation Ground.

Cooney’s opportunistic first half try and seven points from the boot, coupled with a Robert Lyttle score in the second period, saw Dan McFarland’s men post a hard-earned opening win ahead of the visit of Clermont Auvergne to Belfast next Friday.

With a single point separating the sides in the final seconds of today’s closely-fought Pool 3 clash, Stockdale’s superb tracking steal from Semesa Rokoduguni only metres from the visitors’ whitewash proved just as crucial.

In a match billed as the battle of the Burns brothers – Ulster out-half Billy was pitted against his older sibling Freddie, Bath’s full-back – scoring opportunities were in scant supply thanks to solid defence and some poor handling from both sides. Yet, Ulster critically took the chances that came their way.

As play got underway at the Rec, Bath number 10 Rhys Priestland had the first chance to open the scoring after three frantic minutes, but his penalty from 40 metres out veered wide after European debutant Sam Carter had been whistled up for not rolling away.

Ulster were soon reshuffling their pack, with Jack McGrath withdrawn after only suffering a hand injury. Bath continued to enjoy the better of the possession as the first quarter wore on, with a Will Chudley charge-down of Cooney’s 11th-minute raising the alarm until the covering Will Addison hacked into touch.

The hosts proved somewhat wasteful with the resulting lineout, and the two scrum-halves were soon involved in another charge-down incident, Cooney this time blocking Chudley’s kick deep in the Ulster half and showing great pace to collect his own hack forward and outstrip his chasers to the line for the try.

Cooney converted his own score, and after a long phase of slow Bath ball around the halfway line, Ulster were forced into their second change of the afternoon, Carter leaving the field with a makeshift sling on his left arm and Alan O’Connor taking his place.

A long-range penalty from Freddie Burns got Bath on the scoreboard in the 25th minute, and as the Ulster penalty count ramped up to five moments later, the full-back added a second from 25 metres out to reduce the deficit to a single point.

A Mike Williams spill at the restart gifted Ulster a scrum inside the Bath 22, but an Addison knock-on as play spread from left to right put paid to any hopes of an immediate riposte, although another handling error – this time from Chudley – handed possession back to the visitors with two minutes of the first half to go.

Although a steamroller tackle on Lyttle by his opposite number Rokoduguni raised an audible reaction from the crowd, Ulster did well to hold onto the ball until a no-arms tackle by Charlie Ewels presented Cooney with a very kickable penalty in front of the posts – which the scrum half, who had yet to put a foot wrong in the game, inexplicably screwed wide.

Still leading 7-6, Ulster struggled to get their hands on the ball during the opening minutes of the second period, but exemplary defence kept Bath at bay until big centre Stuart McCloskey intercepted in the 50th minute and hacked clear.

In the opposition half for the first time after the break, a sublime line from Luke Marshall got the province to within metres of the whitewash, but a hurried pass from Rob Herring to Cooney brought another knock-on and a real opportunity missed.

As play suddenly opened up just before the hour mark, the second Ulster score came out of nowhere, Addison kicking a loose ball into a huge gap on the Bath left flank, and Lyttle collecting unchallenged to dot down. Cooney added the extras to make it 14-6.

Bath were soon right back in it, however, with youngster Gabriel Hamer-Webb – only on the field for a matter of seconds – picking up on the left wing from Zach Mercer’s pass and outfoxing Addison with deft footwork to mark his European debut with a superb try.

The Burns conversion made it a one-point game once again, until the 66th minute when another high tackle – O’Connor this time the culprit – saw Priestland’s penalty nudge his side in front for the first time in the contest.

Unflustered, Ulster took their time, eventually grinding out a penalty in the 71st minute and Cooney made no mistake this time from the tee. Chasing the game once more, Bath peppered the Ulster line with searching kicks, but Stockdale, Cooney and then Addison all collected flawlessly as the clock ran on.

A Bath infringement at scrum-time bought Ulster valuable metres and seconds, but their game of keep-ball fell apart with 90 seconds remaining, leaving the travelling fans’ hearts in their mouths. It took an inspired interception from Stockdale to save the day, as Mercer sought out Rokoduguni for what looked a nailed-on try.