Cooney try provides springboard for Ulster

ULSTER closed the gap on PRO14 Conference A leaders Leinster with a comfortable victory over Ospreys in Belfast.

The four points brought them to within a point of the holders who visit Kingspan Stadium next Saturday.

It took a composed second half performance from Ulster to get the victory after a shaky opening 40 minutes.

They underwhelmed in the opening half, seeming rattled from an early Keelan Giles try for the visitors.

A combination of that effort, the wily Rhys Webb at scrum-half and a dominant set-piece performance from Ospreys’ pack left Ulster dumbfounded for long spells. When Webb blocked down a second-minute kick from Ian Madigan, Giles was the fastest to respond and took it in for the opening points.

Despite that, they managed to go in at the interval with a share of the lead.

With less than a minute remaining in the half, Nick Timoney pounced on a loose ball before offloading to John Cooney and the scrum-half added a much-needed seven points. It was a double blow for Ospreys as they lost Luke Morgan to a muscle injury in his attempts to hunt down Cooney.

It was a different Ulster after the restart and it seemed inevitable that they would go ahead. They did in the 54th minute when a powerful lineout maul allowed John Andrew to grab his fifth try of the campaign.

Their third arrived soon after and, again, it was at greater expense than just points for the Welsh region as full back Dan Evans was sent to the bin for a deliberate knock-on as referee Seán Gallagher awarded the penalty try.

Winger Rob Lyttle was three times denied a try due to infringements in the build-up, denying the northern province the bonus point.

ULSTER – M Lowry; R Lyttle, J Hume, S McCloskey, J Stockdale (R Baloucoune h-t); I Madigan (M Faddes 72), J Cooney (A Mathewson 59); A Warwick (E O’Sullivan 50), J Andrew (A McBurney 68), M Moore (R Kane 50); A O’Connor, K Treadwell (C Izuchukwu 68); G Jones (S Reidy 50), J Murphy (capt), N Timoney.

OSPREYS – D Evans (YC 63-73); K Giles, T ThomasWheeler, K Williams, L Morgan (S Venter 40); S Myler, R Webb (capt) (J Hawkins 73); G Thomas (N Smith 60), S Parry (I Phillips 50), T Botha (M Fia 50); L Ashley, R Davies; W Griffiths, O Cracknell (S Cross 45-50, 73), M Morris (G Evans 66).

REF – S Gallagher (IRFU).