Ulster’s GUINNESS PRO14 campaign resumed tonight with a four tries-to-two defeat at Parc y Scarlets which sees the Welsh outfit leapfrog Dan McFarland’s side into second place in the Conference B table.
While Dan McFarland can take encouragement from his team’s gutsy defending for long periods of the game, Ulster simply did not enjoy enough possession to pose a significant threat once the Scarlets clicked into gear at the start of the second quarter.
With only a third of game-time played out in Scarlets territory, scoring opportunities were in short supply for the visitors, with scrum half David Shanahan and his replacement Jonny Stewart touching down in either half.
With six players away on Ireland duty, Ulster were bolstered by the return of the experienced Louis Ludik, making his first appearance in six months at centre after recovering from a serious hamstring injury sustained last May.
Ulster held their own in a competitive first 10 minutes, battling at every breakdown and closing down the Scarlets quickly at each foray into their half. Ball in hand they fared even better, Henry Speight working wonders in the 24th minute to create something out of nothing in minimal space on the left and picking out Shanahan for the prolific scrum half’s fifth try of the season.
Billy Burns’ successful conversion was swiftly followed by a Dan Jones penalty, and once the Scarlets out-half had elected to place his next kick into touch, the tide took a noticeable turn and prop Werner Kruger was soon driving over after two periods of strong mauling from the home pack.
As the Scarlets went up another gear on the half hour mark, Ulster had Nick Timoney to thank for a try-saving tackle on Kieran Hardy, the number 8 barging the Welsh scrum half into touch just shy of the try-line after fine interplay with Jones had taken Shanahan out of the equation.
It appeared in the first instance to be only a brief reprieve, however, as full-back Paul Asquith breezed through a gap to touch down in the very next play, only for the try to be ruled out by TMO Tim Hayes for obstruction on James Hume as he attempted to tackle the ball carrier.
Nonetheless, play came back to a Scarlets penalty and ten phases later, Hardy this time darted over for a try which owed much to the picking and driving of his forwards. Worse followed for Ulster in the 39th minute when they had no answer to the power of number 8 Uzair Cassiem in full flight, and centre Kieron Folotia picked up the pieces to extend the home lead to 22-7 at half-time.
The Scarlets started the second period in much the same vein as they had finished the first, Johnny McNicholl terrorising the Ulster defence in a 45th-minute move which ended with Kruger just held up over the line to deny him his second score of the night.
Again play came back for an Ulster infringement, but this time the visitors’ defence proved watertight, keeping the Llanelli outfit at bay until a Hardy knock-on brought them some respite.
New recruit Ian Nagle, recently arrived from Leinster, replaced Kieran Treadwell with half-an-hour remaining, but Ulster simply could not break out of their own half and fared remarkably well to contain their opponents as long as they did.
That was until the 60th minute when Tom Prydie forced his way over at the corner flag after countless phases from the forwards. Ulster finally edged into Scarlets territory from the restart, and when the penalty came three replacements – John Andrew, Greg Jones and Stewart – caught the Scarlets napping at the back of the resulting rolling maul, the scrum half’s try offering his side a glimmer of hope with 16 minutes remaining.
A good five were required to get back into the opposition half, but the Scarlets, with nothing more to gain as regards points, were happy to slow play down to such an extent that, when it came, Ulster’s next attack, which ended with a double movement on the try-line from Ludik, was the final play of the match.
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