Ulster 18 Glasgow 10:THERE HAD been considerable concern in the Ravenhill air that Mark Anscombe's callow side just might not have what was required for their first PRO12 outing, but these fears proved unfounded as they produced an impressive effort to bag a valuable opening win for their new coach.
There was much to admire even if the game at times lagged and became disjointed and well taken tries from Michael Allen and Craig Gilroy – the latter courtesy of an intercept – got Ulster home against a rather poor Warriors side who just didn’t deliver for their new coach Gregor Townsend.
Nick Williams was again immense along with John Afoa and Lewis Stevenson and, even better for Anscombe, Darren Cave, Tom Court and Paul Marshall all made valuable contributions from the bench.
Ulster started by showing some pretty decent defensive organisation – which saw the returning John Afoa to the fore – but then lost Paddy Jackson after only nine minutes with what appeared to be a leg problem.
Niall O’Connor’s first task on arrival was to slot a penalty which the former Connacht player duly did to get the home side on their way.
Ten minutes later, though Nick Williams was seemingly harshly penalised in the tackle and Duncan Weir tied the scores though Ulster responded with Williams just losing the ball over the line before O’Connor then hit an upright with a penalty.
Still, Anscombe’s young side kept at it and a lineout turnover from Lewis Stevenson ultimately led to another penalty chance for O’Connor but he was wide from the same range as his previous effort.
The hard-working Stevenson, Williams and Callum Black were rewarded after Ulster opted to kick their next penalty for the corner. They stayed camped in the Glasgow 22 for most of the remainder of the half. When former Ulster player Tommy Seymour was binned for dragging down a driving Ulster maul, you sensed they would get over the line.
After a series of scrums the try came three minutes before the end of the half when Williams – who else? – picked and drove from the base and after Stevenson’s carry, Jared Payne provided a skip pass assist for Michael Allen to score in Seymour’s corner.
O’Connor missed the difficult conversion and Ulster went in leading 8-3 after Weir’s last minute drop attempt sailed wide.
Glasgow attempted to bring some life into their game by bringing on Chris Cusiter for the second half but it was Ulster who started proceedings in perfect fashion when Craig Gilroy intercepted Weir’s pass and ran all the way in under the posts from just outside his own 22. O’Connor, this time, made no mistake with the extras to put Ulster 15-3 to the good.
The game then lost all its shape for a while as the benches were emptied and then just after the hour, Glasgow replacement Ruaridh Jackson’s 63rd minute penalty hit an upright and Tom Court – who had just arrived to make his 100th Ulster appearance – dived on the ball as Ulster cleared the danger.
But then, on a rare attack, Jackson threw caution to the wind and worked Seymour clear, allowing the winger round two defenders to score before Jackson then added the conversion to narrow Ulster’s lead to 15-10.
Ulster were then unable to build on their lead when O’Connor was again wide with a 72nd minute penalty attempt but made no mistake right at the death.
ULSTER: J Payne; M Allen, C Farrell, L Marshall, C Gilroy; P Jackson, M Heaney; C Black, R Herring, J Afoa; J Muller (c), L Stevenson; R Diack, S Doyle, N Williams. Replacements: N O’Connor for Jackson (9 mins), M McComish for Williams (54 mins), P Marshall for Heaney (59 mins), T Court for Black (61mins), D Cave for C Farrell (64mins).
GLASGOW WARRIORS: P Murchie, T Seymour, A Dunbar, G Morrison, S Lamont; D Weir, H Pyrgos; G Reid, F Gillies, M Cusack; T Ryder, A Kellock (capt), R Harley, C Fusaro, R Wilson. Replacements: J Eddie for A Kellock (30 mins), R Grant for Reid and C Cusiter for Pyrgos (both half time), J Barclay for C Fusaro (51 mins), M Low for M Cusack (52 mins), R Jackson for D Weir (59 mins), D Hall for F Gillies (61 mins), P Horne for A Dunbar (78 mins).
Referee: Marius Mitrea (FIR).
