Blues slip away after dominating first half

CARDIFF Blues slipped to their fifth away defeat of the season in the PRO14 as Kieran Treadwell’s try helped Ulster to a narrow victory at Kingspan Stadium.

John Mulvihill’s side led by two points at halftime thanks to tries from Matthew Morgan and Kristian Dacey but they couldn’t add to their tally after that and Dan McFarland’s side edged across the line with John Cooney’s kicking vital.

Mulvihill said: “We used the ball really well and we knew we’d have that opportunity up here. Possibly in the second half we played too much rugby around halfway and we didn’t get our reward in the end.”

Cardiff took a 12-10 lead into half-time after dominated the first half.

Ulster got the first points on the board when Olly Robinson was penalised at the breakdown and John Cooney scored the penalty.

That should have settled Ulster but Cardiff got some territory and only a knock-on from Samu Manoa prevented them from making it deep into the Ulster 22.

Cardiff came again, however, and with Manoa and former Ulster man Nick Williams in the back row they had two huge powerhouses.

Both were involved in their opening try when they pulverised the Ulster defence and Morgan scored in the left corner.

Jarrod Evans missed the conversion and Ulster scored next when Stuart McCloskey tapped and went with a penalty in the 13th minute. He got his hands free in the tackle and the ball rebounded off Treadwell’s shins before he re-gathered to finish impressively.

Cooney slotted the extras for a 10-5 lead but that was short-lived as Dacey scored his second try in as many weeks from a rolling maul.

Evans converted and Cardiff led by two at halftime.

The first score of the second half came after 58 minutes when Cooney stroked over a penalty.

Seb Davies saw yellow in the 55th minute when he collided with Ross Kane’s back.

Cooney scored two penalties to move Ulster just out of range and a late turnover from Best was crucial while Stockdale did likewise with Ulster in deep trouble.