McCloskey paves way for Ulster win on his big night
OSPREYS: D Evans; H Dirksen, C Allen, T Thomas-Wheeler, L Morgan; S Davies (C), M Aubrey; J Lay, S Baldwin, T Botha; L Ashley, B Davies; O Cracknell, S Cross, J King Replacements: S Otten (for Baldwin, 57), R Jenkins (for Lay, 57), M Fia (for Botha, 57), W Griffiths (for Ashley, 77), R McCusker (for B Davies, 53), R Morgan-Williams (for Aubrey, 77), L Price (for S Davies, 57), K Giles (for L Morgan, 63)
ULSTER: P Nelson; A Kernohan, D Cave, S McCloskey, L Ludik; M Lowry, J Cooney; E O’Sullivan, R Herring, M Moore; A O’Connor (C), I Henderson; C Ross, J Murphy, N Timoney
Replacements: J Andrew, A Warwick (for O’Sullivan, 72), T O’Toole (for Moore, 59), K Treadwell (for O’Connor, 59), S Reidy (for Ross, 58), D Shanahan, J Hume (for Lowry, 73), R Lyttle (for Kernohan, 72)
Man of the match: Stuart McCloskey (Ulster)
Referee:
Quinton Immelman (SARU)
AS he racked up a century of caps for Ulster, it seemed Stuart McCloskey was destined to be the only man both in the headlines and on the scoresheet.
The burly centre bagged the game’s only try against Ospreys in the second half, created by his own offload, and the 5-0 margin he forced was the only moment of note until John Cooney knocked over a penalty with the clock just turning red.
Oddly, last season’s game between these two in the Guinness PRO14 also finished 8-0 — on that occasion the sole try scored by Jacob Stockdale — but with both sides trying to shake off rust after three weeks off, this encounter was one lacking in much attacking star quality.
Ulster had the benefit of an Irish international trio in the form of Cooney, Iain Henderson and Jordi Murphy to call upon in between Six Nations duty, while Ospreys were denied their Welsh contingent currently preparing with Warren Gatland for next week’s visit from England.
As such, Ulster were good value for their narrow victory and left a few tries out there. Ospreys in contrast looked unlikely to score, if not from the maul, in a game where attacking variety was in short supply.
While it was far from pretty, there is little doubting the win’s significance in Ulster’s battle to qualify for the Champions Cup.
Dragons were leading in Edinburgh at half-time but Ulster’s fellow play-off chasers came back to win with a bonus point. But still, Dan McFarland’s men leapfrogged both Scarlets and Benetton to take third place in the table ahead of that pair meeting in northern Italy this afternoon.
With Zebre, Dragons and Southern Kings, the latter and the former at home, the Six Nations window could yet be a fruitful one for the province looking to secure an all-important top-three spot.
It was the returning Henderson whose turnover gave Cooneyafirstchanceattheposts,the scrum-half’s effort drifting off target as the game neared the quarter-hour mark. Little did anyoneknowjusthowlongwe’d be waiting for those first points.
The former Connacht and Leinster man manufactured a second attempt off the tee soon after, his dummy creating the space to scythe through the defensive line and forcing a scrambling Ospreys defence into an error. TMO intervention, though, saw the penalty reversed.
Strong maul defence from the visitors kept the scores knotted at zero, while a scrum penalty completed the job for McFarland’s men.
A missed lineout saw one opportunity go begging, while a good combination between Louis Ludik and Darren Cave ended only with Angus Kernohan knocking on McCloskey’s pass as