Gutsy Ulster hold their nerve away to Connacht to end five-game losing streak
Despite being ravaged by injury, Ulster managed to beat Connacht on Saturday night.
Connacht 7-17 Ulster
A massive victory for an injury hit and inexperienced Ulster side at the Dexcom Stadium that brought a halt to their five-game losing streak.
Connacht looked good for a home victory with a strong team selected and on the back of back to back Challenge Cup wins plus a good performance in last week's narrow defeat to table-toppers Leinster.
But Ulster, with Richie Murphy's 20-year-old son Jack making his first start, made a fast start and defended superbly in the final quarter as the pressure came on.
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"Our backs were really against the wall," said man of the match Nick Timoney, who scored the only try of the second half. "We've obviously lost a few in a row but looking back on those games, it didn't feel like they were things we couldn't fix. I just couldn't be prouder of the lads, they just showed what they're about. I couldn't be happier."
Both sides had to make late line-up adjustments. Niall Murray wasn't in Connacht's matchday squad but came straight into the side before kick-off after his brother Darragh suffered an injury in the warm-up.
Ulster, meanwhile, had Rob Herring ruled out of the action. John Andrew started in his place. That added to the gap in experience between the sides but the hosts were caught out from the off as Ulster's young guns dominated early on.
Murphy got off to a flyer with a brilliant 50-22 after Bundee Aki spilled the ball in midfield. Ulster didn't make the line-out field position count as Scott Wilson knocked on while on the charge.
They came even closer in the eighth minute as Ben Carson, Cormac Izuchukwu, James McNabney and Wilson made ground to Connacht's line only for Niall Murray to produce a crucial steal.
But the visitors made the pressure pay three minutes later when loosehead Eric O'Sullivan powered through Dave Heffernan's tackle to score beside the posts from close range, with Nathan Doak clipping over the conversion.
Their lead increased to 10 points on the quarter hour. McNabney spotted a massive gap in Connacht's defence and raced through it. While the back row should have found a team-mate, the hosts conceded a penalty at the ruck and Doak split the posts.
Connacht got on top as the half wore on as they exerted dominance at scrum time and got their reward six minutes from the break.
Jack Carty, with penalty advantage, played a delicate chip over the top and, as Ulster's back three converged on the bouncing ball, it ricocheted off Mike Lowry's shin and into the grateful hands of Mack Hansen, who ran in under the posts.
Carty's conversion made it 10-7 at the break to Ulster but the home side failed to kick on after the restart and, crucially, it was the visitors who got the next five-pointer in the 55th minute.
Ref Andrew Brace called a penalty against Connacht skipper Cian Prendergast for blocking access to a Doak box-kick and Ulster kicked to the corner.
McNabney won the line-out and Timoney pounced, with Doak slotting over the conversion. Connacht needed a spark and Sean Jansen delivered it off the bench as he and Aki took the game to the visitors. The westerners put themselves in position to strike in the 63rd minute but Prendergast knocked on a poor Ben Murphy pass.
Ulster held firm despite running up a high penalty count. Connacht's last real chance came when Hansen's chip and chase was cut out by Dave McCann, who carried over his own try line. The hosts had a five metre scrum but Ulster's novice replacement front row came up trumps by winning a penalty against the head.
Connacht: P O’Conor, M Hansen, C Forde, B Aki, S Cordero; J Carty (S Jennings 58), C Blade (B Murphy 58); D Buckley (P Dooley 63-74), D Tierney-Martin (E de Buitléar 63), F Bealham (J Aungier 62); J Murphy (O Dowling 53), N Murray; C Prendergast, S Hurley-Langton (C Oliver 67), P Boyle (S Jansen 53).
Ulster: M Lowry, W Kok (W De Klerk 42), B Carson, J Postlethwaite, R Telfer, J Murphy, N Doak; E O’Sullivan (A Warwick 41), J Andrew (J McCormick 63), S Wilson (C Barrett 65), K Treadwell (H Sheridan 68), C Izuchukwu, Matty Rea (D McCann 50), N Timoney, J McNabney.
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