Two tries from outstanding flanker Stephen Ferris helped Ulster to a 24-17 Pro12 victory over Scarlets at a wet and windy Ravenhill on Friday.
Ulster responded to going 10-0 behind to register 24 unanswered points and set up a victory that they hope will breathe new life into their faltering RaboDirect League campaign.
Sean Lamont intercepted a pass and crossed in the right hand corner with just two minutes on the clock to stun the home faithful.
Ian Humphreys then hit the post with a penalty attempt before Scarlets struck again with a try from Viliame Iongi following patient build up play.
A Humphreys penalty on 22 minutes made it 3-10, and the momentum shifted their way even further when Ferris crossed for his first try of the night with Scarlets down to 14 men after a yellow card for Scarlets full-back Dan Evans.
Ulster played smartly with the wind in the second half and a penalty from Humphreys saw them go ahead on the scoreboard for the first time on the night.
Two more kicks gave Ulster a firm grip on proceedings, and that dominance was hammered home by Ferris when he blasted through Iongi's attempted tackle to touch down for his second.
No sooner had Adam Macklin joined play as a replacement he was off the field after being handed a yellow card by referee Alain Rolland. And Scarlets struck back when Kieran Murphy wriggled over for a try from a 5-metre scrum, and Jones successfully converted to give the Welsh outfit a well-deserved losing bonus point.
The scorers:
For Ulster:
Tries: Ferris 2
Con: Humphreys
Pens: Humphreys 4
For Scarlets:
Tries: Lamont, Iongi, Murphy
Con: Jones
Yellow cards: Evans (Scarlets - 32nd min) ; Macklin (Ulster - 72nd min)
Ulster: 15 Adam D'Arcy, 14 Andrew Trimble, 13 Darren Cave, 12 Nevin Spence, 11 Craig Gilroy, 10 Ian Humphreys, 9 Paul Marshall, 8 Pedrie Wannenburg, 7 Chris Henry, 6 Stephen Ferris, 5 Dan Tuohy, 4 Johann Muller (capt), 3 John Afoa, 2 Rory Best, 1 Tom Court.
Replacements: 16 Nigel Brady, 17 Paddy McAllister, 18 Adam Macklin, 19 Lewis Stevenson, 20 Robbie Diack, 21 Ruan Pienaar, 22 Paddy Jackson, 23 Ian Whitten.
Scarlets: 15 Daniel Evans, 14 Viliami Iongi, 13 Nick Reynolds, 12 Adam Warren, 11 Sean Lamont, 10 Stephen Jones (capt), 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Kieran Murphy, 7 Rob McCusker, 6 Mat Gilbert, 5 Adam Powell, 4 Lou Reed, 3 Deacon Manu, 2 Ken Owens, 1 Phil John.
Replacements: 16 Emyr Phillips, 17 Iestyn Thomas, 18 Simon Gardiner, 19 Damian Welch, 20 Johnathan Edwards, 21 Rhodri Williams, 22 Daniel Newton, 23 Iolo Evans.
Venue: Ravenhill
Referee: Alain Rolland (Ireland)
Comments
tombomb says...
poor performance from Ian Humphreys again i said it once and ill say it again when is he going to get dropped! ohh yeah he wont because he will play well against the weakest team it Europe next week aroni just wait and see they'll parade him like he's a god Humphrey's magic my arse haha
Posted 01:52 03rd December 2011