Treviso 23 Ulster 27: IT WAS all a little too close for comfort in the end, but Brian McLaughlin wasn't about to complain after Ian Whitten's 81st-minute try spared Ulster's blushes away to Treviso.
Trailing 23-20 as the game entered it’s dying embers, the writing appeared to be on the wall for the Ulstermen as the Benetton-backed minnows honed in on their first league double against non-Italian opponents.
Cue one final push by the McLaughlin’s men, however, hitherto camped in their own 22 and seemingly unable to find a way out until a chance turnover, a hoof upfield and an almighty chase paved the way for Whitten’s contribution several phases later.
It was no wonder, then, that the soon departing McLaughlin had reason to look content with his victory, slapdash or not.
“We have to be pleased with where we are,” he said. “Three years ago we entered into the Six Nations period with absolutely nothing to play for. Now we’re in a position for the second season in a row now where we have a European Cup quarter-final to look forward to and we’re pushing really hard to try and guarantee that final fourth place.
“It’s not going to be easy, of course, but it’s going to make for an exciting couple of weeks.”
Up to and including the 80th minute, there had been precious little to separate the sides, and in particular during an engaging first half which ended up all square at 13-13.
A third-minute try by Enrico Ceccato had given Treviso an early lead but was cancelled out by Chris Henry’s 23rd-minute touchdown, and with each of the respective marksmen enjoying success with the boot, the gridlock seemed near impassable.
The action in the second half was similarly tit-for-tat, at least until a late glut of tries jazzed up proceedings.
Alberto di Bernardo’s touchdown after 10 minutes looked like it might be the winner, but Paddy Wallace replied with one of his own immediately after to set up a grand-stand finale.
From there, there was something almost predictable about the way Treviso collapsed at the death and eventually allowed Whitten just enough leg room to steal the show.
But from McLaughlin’s point of view, there was something equally foreseeable about Ulster’s refusal to throw in the towel.
“That is something we have being trying to instil into the players over the last three seasons. It was the same at this stage last year. We were nip and tuck more than once but we ground out hard wins.”
TREVISO:B Williams; T Iannone, A Sgarbi, G Garcia, L Nitoglia; K Burton, E Gori; M Rizzo, Ceccato, L Cittadini; A Pavanello, C Van Zyl; A Zanni, M Vosawai, R Barbieri. Replacements: G Padro for Barbieri (52 mins), M Muccignat for Rizzo, D Vidal for Ceccato, I Fernandez Rouyet for Cittadini, F Minto for Pavanello (all 62 mins), A Di Bernardo for Williams (66 mins), F Semenzato for Gori, V Bernabo for Vosawai (both 75 mins).
ULSTER:A D'Arcy; C Gilroy, D Cave, P Wallace, S Terblanche; I Humphreys, R Pienaar; T Court, A Kryiacou, J Afoa, J Muller (capt), D Tuohy, C Henry, W Faloon, R Diack. Replacements: N Spence for Terblanche (50 mins), N Brady for Kryiacou (52 mins), L Stevenson for Muller (60 mins), P McAllister for Court (62 mins), I Whitten for Cave (64 mins).
Referee: L Hodges (WRU).
