| Ulster: (6) 19 |
| try: McCann pen: Doak (2), Cooney (2) Cons: cooney |
| Cardiff: (7) 17 |
| Attempt: Kavango (2) pen: Devia Cons: Devia (2) |
Ulster escaped with an important URC victory over Cardiff thanks to John Cooney's last-minute penalty.
The lead changed hands three times in a dramatic final 15 minutes and Cardiff appeared to have secured victory, but Theo Kavango's hat-trick was annulled.
The match was brought back by an Ulster penalty, which John Cooney kicked, giving Ulster their first win in the league under interim head coach Richie Murphy.
As a result, Ulster moved up to 6th place.
Cardiff dominated throughout the first half, but both teams made mistakes early on. Ulster's Nathan Doak took a penalty deep in the opposition half and Cardiff saw the ball fly out of a ruck five meters from the home team line.
The hosts looked set to take the lead when Jude Postlethwaite sent Mike Lowry clear, but referee Mike Adamson ruled the pass a forward.
Cardiff won a penalty from a scrum and the Welsh region attacked sharply from the lineout, forcing Kavango through the gap and over a whitewash.
Both teams had lost key players to injury before the end of the first quarter, with Cardiff full-back Cam Wynnett having to be sent off even earlier, before Ulster's James Hume arrived in the 18th minute. left the pitch with a leg injury.
Ulster didn't come on until the 27th minute, when a penalty awarded by Doak at the break cut Cardiff's lead to 7-3.
In yet another injury for Cardiff, Taulupe Faletau, playing his first game since the World Cup, left the field after the 30th minute.
Five minutes before the break, a no-arm tackle on Alex Mann resulted in a second Doak penalty.
However, it was the closest Ulster came to scoring a try in the opening 40 minutes as Dave Ewers was thwarted on the line. Cardiff were probably disappointed as they only led 7-6 at half-time.
At half-time, Ulster replaced Jake Flannery with fly-half Billy Burns, taking on Munster's No. 10 shirt.
The former Gloucester man would have an increased influence on the game, but the change did not pay off immediately, as Kavango's second try of the night came just minutes after the restart.
Ben Thomas' wide pass put Ulster ahead, and impressive Cardiff winger Kavango passed both Postlethwaite and Jacob Stockdale on his way to the post.
Ulster had barely regained their composure and the 22-year-old was on the brink of a hat-trick, but only Will Addison's tackle stopped them from advancing down the left.
The home side's cause was not helped by Stockdale being sent to the sin bin for a deliberate knock-on, but the Irish winger would return with his team seven points better than when he left.
After forcing a penalty into a corner, Ulster went into a pick-and-jam with Dave McCann, who eventually got it over the line amid protests from Cardiff that the ball was knocked on during the build-up.
With 15 minutes remaining Ulster took their first lead of the night when substitute No. 9 Cooney kicked away a penalty awarded for a breakdown.
Cardiff should have restored the advantage almost immediately, but when Thomas Young tried to ground into the corner, Cormac Iztyuk came back and flicked the ball away.
They just have to wait a few minutes and they'll be back in front. When the whistle blew for Postlethwaite playing as scrum-half, Tinus de Beer brought the ball down for a penalty.
With two minutes remaining, Kavango thought Cardiff had won, completing his hat-trick in the process, but as De Beer prepared for a conversion attempt, referee Mike Adamson was stopped by the TMO.
Cardiff's winning try was officially canceled and the play was instead called back for a deliberate knock-on in the away team's 22.
Cooney deflected the penalty and Ulster snatched victory in the nick of time before the restart.
lineup
Ulster: Addison. Lowry, Hume, Postlethwaite, Stockdale. Flannery, Doak. O'Sullivan, Stewart, Wilson. Sheridan, O'Connor. Ewers, Rea, McCann.
Replacement: Andrew, Warwick, O'Toole, Iztyuk, Jones, Cooney, Barnes, McIlroy.
Sin bin: stockdale
Cardiff: Winnet. Adams, Grady, Thomas, Kavango. De Beer, Bevan. Domakhovsky, Belcher, Assilatti. Donnell, Williams. Mann, Young, Faletau.
Replacement: Lloyd, Carre, Parker, Thornton, Jenkins, Martin, Bertranou, Beetham.
Sin bin: Curry
match official
Referee: mike adamson
TMO: Andrew McMenemy
