TRIMBLE TRY SAVES ULSTER’S BLUSHES

A LAST-GASP 77th minute try from replacement Andrew Trimble (below) along with a critical conversion kicked by Christian Leali’ifano rescued Ulster from defeat as they squeaked past Treviso at Ravenhill. After only leading 13-9 at half-time following an early score from Tommy Bowe, Les Kiss’ side struggled against the Italians before finally making it back-toback wins in the Pro14 following the autumn break. Leali’ifano also kicked a secondhalf penalty while John Cooney kicked two penalties and a conversion in the opening 40 minutes. Injury-hit Ulster failed to take adequate advantage of a yellow card shown to Treviso winger Andrea Bronzini late in the first half and struggled from there. The Italians scored one try from Robert Barbieri while man of the match Tommaso Allan kicked four penalties and a conversion while sub Marty Banks added one second-half penalty. The visitors’ score came when Ulster’s new cap Schalk van der Merwe passed straight to Barbieri who gratefully accepted the score. After Allan converted Barbieri’s 56th-minute try Ulster trailed 19-13 but they responded with a Leali’ifano penalty. However Banks slotted a 73rd-minute penalty to push the Italians into a 22-16 lead. With time running out, Ulster came again with Trimble (below) surging over and Leali’ifano adding the conversion with a minute left on the clock. ULSTER: C Piutau; T Bowe (A Trimble 74), L Ludik, C Leali’ifano, C Gilroy; P Nelson (D Cave 53), J Cooney (P Marshall 53); C Black (S van der Merwe 45), J Andrew (R Herring 52), R Kane (A Warwick 52); K Treadwell, A O’Connor; C Ross (G Jones 34), A Hall (M Dalton 70), Ni Timoney. Scorers — Tries: Bowe, Trimble. Cons: Cooney, Leali’ifano. Pens: Cooney (2), Leali’ifano. TREVISO: L Sperandio; T Benvenuti, I Brex, A Sgarbi, A Bronzini (M Banks 56); T Allan (L Morisi 64), G Bronzini; C Traoré (N Quaglio 65), T Baravalle (Hame Faiva 56), G di Stefano (A de Marchi 40); A Zanni, I Herbst (F Ruzza 53); W Douglas, N Manu, R Barbieri (M Barbini 67). Yellow card: Bronzini 30. Scorers - Try: Barbieri. Con: Allan. Pens: Allan (4), Banks. Referee: M Adamson (Scotland).