Ulster end losing streak
Ulster have ended a run of three straight Magners League defeats by scoring a 15-10 win against Munster at Ravenhill.
Last Updated: 02/01/10 8:49pm
Ulster have ended a run of three straight Magners League defeats by scoring a 15-10 win against Munster at Ravenhill.
The victory boosts Ulster's hopes of making the play-offs but they were made to battle hard against makeshift opponents.
The game, which survived a pitch inspection earlier in the day after overnight frost, was a bruising encounter.
Ulster were at pretty much full strength, with their international quartet of Paddy Wallace, Stephen Ferris, Tom Court and Andrew Trimble taking to the field.
In contrast, Munster were missing all their Ireland front-liners due to injury and this week deployed the Irish Rugby Football Union's player management policy.
The visitors will, in the circumstances, be pleased with their losing bonus point while Ulster will simply be relieved at the result after failing to register a single score after the second of Simon Danielli's two tries.
In fact, neither side managed to score any points in a scrappy second half.
The visitors should have really opened the scoring when captain Mick O'Driscoll went clear under the posts after three minutes, only for Ulster counterpart Chris Henry to knock the ball from his grasp.
Scoring spree
Ulster then went on a 15-point scoring spree over the next 19 minutes, which opened with an Ian Humphreys penalty.
Danielli's first score came from an unexpected source - a Paul Warwick chip ricocheted off Wallace into the Ulster winger's hands, the Scotland international then running in for a simple try.
Humphreys converted and then, virtually from the restart, Danielli crossed again, this time after Trimble's burst drew tacklers in before he released his team-mate, who streaked up the left wing.
Humphreys failed to convert but at 15-0 Ulster looked able to increase their lead further, Warwick albeit falling short with a long-range penalty.
But Munster upped the pressure and South Africa international Jean de Villiers scored under the posts, the ball having fallen loose after a Humphreys hit on Lifeimi Mafi - the Ulster fly-half then losing the ball after being tackled by Donncha Ryan.
Warwick kicked the conversion and then added a penalty to cut Ulster's lead to 15-10 at half-time.
Ulster nearly scored just short of 50 minutes after Humphreys hacked through but Wallace knocked on at the posts and that was as close as they got to registering more points.
Warwick was unlucky to see a 65th-minute penalty hit the uprights and then, after Thomas Anderson knocked on, O'Driscoll spilled the ball again as Munster pushed for a try.
