Lowry sparks Ulster into life

ULSTER made it 11 wins from 12 PRO14 games with a hard fought victory over Glasgow, but missed out on the bonus point.

Friday’s victory at Scotstoun leaves them five points behind Leinster in the battle for top spot in Pool A with regular season games starting to run out.

The moment of the match came just before half-time when MOM Michael Lowry scored a superb try. The Ulster fullback said: “In the first half you could see both teams were rusty given we hadn’t played for a few weeks.

“That try I scored helped us get into our stride and in the second half we passed the ball better and held onto it better.

“It’s always tough to win in Glasgow, so we’ll take the points and move on.”

The returning Adam Hastings gave Glasgow the lead in the 34th minute with a penalty before Lowry’s effort – converted by John Cooney – made it 7-3 to Ulster at the interval.

A second penalty from Hastings closed the gap to a point in the 50th minute but tries by winger Craig Gilroy and back row Nick Timoney, the second converted by Cooney, stretched Ulster’s lead to 19-6.

Rather than Ulster going on and getting a crucial fourth try, it was the Warriors who picked up a losing bonus point thanks to a late try by Aki Seiuli which was converted by fellow replacement Ross Thompson while Ulster replacement Alby Mathewson was in the sin bin for a deliberate knock-on.

Warriors remain well behind the Ospreys in the battle for third in Pool A.