Determined Ulster Claim Long-Awaited First Win

Ulster kickstarted their Magners League campaign by edging out Edinburgh 13-9 in a keenly-contested Magners League clash at Ravenhill on Friday night. Flanker David Pollock scored the only try of the game to help the province claim their first win of the season.

Ulster v Edinburgh – Match Photo Gallery

Ulster recorded their first Magners League win since they beat Munster at home on April 30 last, with young flanker David Pollock supplying the only try.

The 21-year-old’s first ever league score arrived in the 26th minute, after the hosts had launched a quick counter attack.

Edinburgh looked the more composed team during a frantic opening quarter, but the only scoring chances of the first half fell to Ulster.

And there was a massive sense of relief when Pollock touched down close to the posts following a right wing raid.

He was swamped by his celebrating team-mates before Clinton Schifcofske, who missed an earlier penalty, stepped forward to convert Ulster into a 7-0 lead.

Youngsters Willis and Pollock, along with team captain Rory Best, were some of the eight changes in personnel Ulster coach Matt Williams made to the team that was hammered 43-0 by the Ospreys.

Edinburgh boss Andy Robinson also made eight alterations to the side he put out for last week’s 11-9 loss to the Newport Gwent Dragons.

Knocks to Chris Paterson (ankle) and Alan MacDonald (eye) have added to Robinson’s current injury woes, with Ben Cairns (knee ligament), Ross Rennie (knee) and Matt Dey (shoulder) rated as long term absentees.

The Scottish club were looking for a return to the form they displayed in their fine 32-12 victory over the Scarlets two weeks ago.

And although Edinburgh travelled across to Belfast with just one win behind them from their nine previous visits to Ireland, Robinson’s troops were quietly confident.

They achieved a ‘season’s double’ over Ulster last term and got a stranglehold on possession early on, only for the hosts to put up a defensive wall.

Edinburgh, with full-back Jim Thompson making his first league start, certainly made early in-roads but Ulster’s tackling was typified by player-coach Paul Steinmetz.

The former All Black put in a number of crunching hits and helped his side gain territory, linking with busy half-backs Niall O’Connor and Willis.

Ulster had been pinned in their own half for the opening quarter-hour, as Edinburgh’s returning captain Mike Blair dictated play with some pinpoint grubber and box kicks.

Schifcofske should have opened the scoring, however, from a kickable penalty and ruined Edinburgh’s early groundwork.

Still, Ulster’s try was just around the corner and it all started when full-back Bryn Cunningham’s chip forward was gobbled up by Andrew Trimble.

The Ireland international offloaded for the supporting Darren Cave who had Pollock on his shoulder and the former Ireland Under-20 captain bounded over the try line, past some last-ditch tackles.

The seven-pointer gave Ulster added confidence and with their scrum offering a good attacking platform, they really should have scored again before half-time.

Stephen Ferris was stopped short of the visitors’ whitewash on two occasions and full-back Cunningham, up in support, was just a pass away from scoring out wide.

As the half came to a close, Schifcofske missed a 45-metre penalty and Williams’ men remained just a converted score ahead at the break.

Clearly charged up after Robinson’s half-time words, Edinburgh immediately got themselves back in touch after the restart.

David Blair, making his first start of the campaign, kicked two penalties in the space of three minutes for an Ulster offside and a ruck infringement.

In the lead-up to Blair’s first penalty, a bouncing ball had evaded Hugo Southwell’s grasp when he looked set to score.

With both sides struggling in the wrong half of the league table, it quickly became obvious during a tense second period that goal-kicking would win the game for either.

A costly error by Allan Jacobsen allowed Schifcofske add some much-needed comfort to Ulster’s lead, which stood at four points in the 52nd minute.

Nerves jangled in the 8,418-strong crowd though, as Edinburgh emptied their replacements bench and began to find some rhythm again.

Nonetheless, a third Schifcofske success from six attempts nudged Ulster’s tally to 13 points and it was enough for them to hang on for their first win in seven league outings.

Edinburgh kept plugging away, to their credit, and after an O’Connor miss at the other end, a penalty from replacement Phil Godman cut the gap back to four points to ensure a frenetic finish.

Speaking after the final whistle, a relieved Williams admitted: “We should have put the game away a lot earlier. In the 80th minute Edinburgh were still in it and could have won with a try. We still played with a lot of fear and tension.

“If Edinburgh had scored in the last minute, we would have been devastated and been pulling our hair out. But I couldn’t have faulted their effort.”

Robinson admitted: “It is frustrating that we can’t seem to buy a try at the moment. That is one thing that is really disappointing.

“We are just one or two per cent down in our performance. We dominated the first 20 minutes but couldn’t score.

“We had a couple of clear run-ins and we still couldn’t score. Then Ulster got a breakaway try, which was frustrating.”

After four straight losses to Scottish teams, this long-awaited success will definitely boost confidence levels for Ulster’s first European assignment next week at home to Stade Francais.

Edinburgh host Leinster and Robinson warned his players that they could be left with ‘egg on their faces’ if they turn in a similar performance in their European opener next Saturday.