Ulster Too Strong As They Hit Glasgow For Six

Ulster delivered another assured performance under the Kingspan Stadium floodlights to sting Glasgow Warriors with a 40-15 defeat.

They bagged their bonus point try on the stroke of half-time, as the ever-influential John Cooney crossed to add to earlier efforts from John Andrew, Marcell Coetzee and captain Sam Carter.

Glasgow hooker Grant Stewart touched down from a 60th-minute maul, but the in-form hosts were already out of reach thanks to further scores from player-of-the-match Sean Reidy and Matt Faddes.

Six-try Ulster closed the gap to Conference A leaders Leinster back to just two points, while they are now 14 clear of third-placed Ospreys.

The province’s bid for a 17th straight home victory came under early threat, as Glasgow’s incisive phase play was rewarded with Samoa flanker TJ Ioane’s first try for the club.

Responding to that seven-point concession, the Ulster forwards produced a potent lineout maul following a series of penalties, and hooker Andrew rumbled over with 11 minutes on the clock.

Although Cooney kicked Ulster level, the Scots began the second quarter with a 10-7 advantages thanks to a Pete Horne penalty which rewarded Tom Gordon’s breakdown graft.

Back came Ulster, South African powerhouse Coetzee crashing in under the posts to edge his side ahead for the first time. It was his fourth try of the campaign and came on the back of a strong carry by Andrew.

Cooney tapped over the conversion for 14-10 and it was Coetzee and the diminutive Michael Lowry who combined to haul down Ioane a few metres short, when a second Glasgow try looked likely.

The Warriors went close again on the half hour mark, with Sean Kennedy’s quick tap penalty almost nabbing a try. But the impressive Andrew landed a try-saving tackle and Lowry earned a turnover penalty.

Crucially, Ulster got their attack firing again just before the break with a two-try surge. A prolonged spell in the Glasgow 22 ended with Australian lock Carter barging over in the 36th minute.

Cooney converted and then darted over from the base of a ruck for a timely bonus point score at 28-10. The Ireland scrum half, who missed out on a place in the Autumn Nations Cup squad, tallied up 15 points tonight.

Glasgow were down to 14 men at that stage, with Niko Matawalu sin-binned for a deliberate knock-on of a Faddes pass, which was intended for Craig Gilroy.

Even after Matawalu returned early in the second half, Ulster were still ruthless in the red zone. The Fijian winger was sold a dummy by Lowry who broke through and fed Andrew whose inside pass sent Reidy sliding over in the left corner.

Try number six followed soon after when New Zealander Faddes kicked the loose ball upfield following a crunching Coetzee tackle and expertly grounded the ball following another hack through.

Another deliberate knock-on resulted in a yellow card, this time Lowry receiving his marching orders as he tried to stop Glasgow from capitalising on an overlap.

The resulting lineout drive saw Glasgow take swift advantage as Stewart surged over. His try went unconverted, though, and Ulster were able to see out the final quarter in relatively comfortable fashion.