Ulster started strongly and scored after 5 minutes when a turnover was secured inside their own half and Jamie Smith made good ground before linking with wing Stuart Lester who looked to be going in at the corner but flicked an inside pass to Tommy Seymour who scored at the posts with Harry McAleese converting.

Whilst Ulster continued to enjoy territorial advantage, the bigger Connacht pack began to make it presence felt and it was fair reward that Connacht equalised after 24 minutes when prop Connor Higgins scored after a number of rucks on the Ulster line. David Clarke converted to leave the scores tied at 7-7. The Connacht forwards continued to exert pressure and scored an identical try 5 minutes later when No. 8 Trevor Conneely forced his way over with Clarke converting via an upright. Ulster were finding the big Connacht pack a handful and good possession was hard to come by. However, some good interplay between forwards and backs, just before half-time took play up to the Connacht 22. Following a succession of rucks and mauls near the Connacht line, Ulster moved the ball and a great double miss pass from Harry McAleese put Jamie Smith into a gap and the centre duly scored. The conversion was missed but form the restart, Connaught were penalised and a quick tap from Michael Wilson saw the scrum-half make fifty metres before linking with the impressive Michael Entwhistle who was tackled just before the line but managed to flip a pass to McAleese and the out-half scored between the posts and duly converted his own try to leave Ulster leading 19-14 at half-time.

Whatever coaches Terry McMaster and Gary Longwell said to the team at half time, it had the desired effect and the Ulster team started the second half strongly with the pack suddenly putting their bigger counterparts under considerable pressure. A break by No.8 David Johnston breached the Connaught defence and Wilson continued on the move before putting Stuart Lester away to score at the posts. McAleese converted to extend Ulster’s lead to 26-14. Ulster were now moving the ball well, stretching the Connaught pack all over the park and keeping possession. The pressure paid off with a McAleese penalty after 55 minutes followed by a 40 metre drop goal form Jamie Smith to move Ulster to a 32-14 lead.

Connaught were not done and flanker Dermot Murphy pulled a try back after 70 minutes. However, Ulster were also not finished and some great interplay and handling between forwards and backs saw second row Paddy McGowan sprint clear to score at the posts, McAleese converted to leave Ulster worthy winners by 39-21 and put them at the top of the inter-provincial table.

Following last weeks victory in Leinster, Manager John McKibbin was again full of praise for the team “Connacht gave us a stern test, particularly up front, and the boys came through it well. Even when we went behind, the team maintained their composure and structure and continued to play to our own game plan. Terry and Gary again came up with a successful strategy which the players executed well. It was again pleasing that, when we introduced replacements, we were able to maintain our structure and dictate the patterns of play that we wanted. This team has again shown a lot of character and commitment and got the reward of a deserved victory. However, that is already behind us now and the focus is solely on the game against Munster next Friday.

The Under 20 play Munster next Friday evening at Ravenhill with a 7.00 KO.

Ulster Team v Connacht
15: Tommy Seymour, 14: Stuart Lester (Desi Fusco70 min), 13: Jamie Smith, 12: Andy Moore (Will Martin 60 min), 11: Chris Cochrane, 10: Harry McAleese, 9: Michael Wilson, 1: Paul Karayiannis (Stephen Fergusson 55 min), 2: Stephen Douglas (Colm Heaney 65 min), 3: David Halliday, 4: Patrick McGowan, 5: Alistair Birch, 6: David Bradford (James Elliott 60 min) 7: Michael Entwhistle (Matt Burke 70 min), 8: David Johnston (Neil Alcorn 70 min)