Ulster trailed at half time as went in search of victory on a crisp winters evening at Ravenhill. Both sides started in bullish form with Roger Wilson and Rory Best for Ulster and Danie Coetzee for London Irish leading from the front.

London Irish were very competitive at the breakdown, openside flanker Steffon Armitage in particular. Ulster, in desperate need of a bonus point victory to keep their Heineken Cup dreams alive utilised the quick penalties of Isaac Boss on numerous occasions at the start.

The taste of last weekend’s clash is still fresh in the mouth, with both sets of forwards not giving an inch. Shane Geraghty, the young Irish born English qualified number ten, kicked the game’s first points after handling in the ruck. Ulster hit back with a great move. Number eight Roger Wilson fed David Humphreys, whose cross-field kick found Andrew Trimble, who touched down in the corner. Standoff Humphreys couldn’t add the extras.

Ulster went down to 14 men when Isaac Boss was sin-binned with a hit shot on last week’s villain Delon Armitage. Shane Geraghty missed the resulting penalty. The London Irish man did make amends with ten minutes to go, to put his side in front at the break

At the start of the second half, London Irish captain Mike Catt was substituted for Argentine Gonzalo Tiesi. Ulster started the second half with great vigour. In the fourth minute, Humphreys made a quick tap and go, to go in unopposed and converted his own try to put Ulster in the lead 12-6. London Irish strengthened their resolve by bringing on hooker Michael Collins and South African prop Faan Rautenbach.


The defence was much better, forcing London Irish to make mistakes in contact. David Humphreys probed the London Irish defence with kicks in behind the defensive line. Matt McCullough and Juan Leguizamon exchanged pleasantries, resulting in an Ulster penalty. Talisman Humphreys dually added three points.

Ulster made a change at openside with Neil McMillan replacing Kieron Dawson to stifle the effort at ruck-time of the Irish back-row. A perfectly timed Bryn Cunningham kick resulted in a Delon Armitage mistake, Paul Steinmetz capitalised and fed Neil McMillan, who was where any good openside should be. Humphreys again added the two points. On 22 minutes, Argentine Tiesi hit back with a soft try, which Geraghty converted. Paddy Wallace and Justin Fitzpatrick were replaced by Bryan Young and Kevin Maggs as Ulster went in search of the bonus point try.

In a tense last quarter, Tim Barker was brought on for Matt McCullough to add further grunt up-front. Shane Geraghty was replaced by points machine Barry Everitt, and England A lock was replaced by fellow A international James Hudson. A penalty for holding on resulted in a David Humphreys kick to touch. The Ulster drive was thwarted illegally as Bob Casey was sin-binned for collapsing the maul.

Ulster pressed for the elusive fourth try and their efforts paid off, with Paul Steinmetz scooting in, finishing off an overlap move. Isaac Boss was replaced by Kieran Campbell with two minutes to go.  A late bout of fisty cuffs resulted in Delon Armitage and Andrew Trimble being sin-binned, but Ulster stayed in front for a tremendous victory.

Coach Mark McCall added “ I was delighted with the attitude of the players. We talked about playing in areas where we could hurt them. We set the platform, we were good around the fringes and we took are chances. “