Ulster outscored the Newport Gwent Dragons by two tries to one during their league tussle at Ravenhill on Friday but Paul Turner’s Welsh side, helped by an 11-point contribution from James Arlidge, fought determinedly to their first win on Irish soil since October 2004.
Coming under fire after successive defeats to Glasgow Warriors, the Scarlets and Munster – with the concession of a worrying 89 points to boot – there was an undeniable sense of relief in the Dragons camp as their losing run came to an end in Belfast.
Not only that, the victory marked the Welsh region’s first win in 18 visits to Ireland in all competitions.
Interestingly, the Newport outfit’s last success on Irish soil was also at Ravenhill back in October 2004.
That season they finished fourth in the table and while such a placing may prove beyond them this term, the key for Turner and company will be to build on what was achieved against a similarly under pressure Ulster side.
Like the visitors, Ulster were in desperate need of a win to improve their lowly position and build their confidence back up after falling away in the second half at Cardiff last week.
Matt Williams’ first game in charge of the Irish province was a bonus point victory over the Dragons at this very venue last February.
But the Australian’s honeymoon period is well and truly over and starting his first full season with just three points from three fixtures has left him with quite a task on his hands.
The tag of ‘must-win game’ will be added to the province’s upcoming clashes with the Ospreys (away) and Edinburgh (home) as Williams’ men looked to silence their critics.
The Ulster coach hammered home the point after the Cardiff loss that his players cannot afford to give away so many penalties and their lack of discipline proved their downfall again on Friday.
Williams did admit afterwards that he felt his side had been hard done by by Scottish referee Andy Macpherson, but too many missed scoring chances and dropped passes meant Ulster could point to a number of reasons as to why they lost again.
With Rob Dewey and Kieron Dawson their only new inclusions, the home side did make a very positive start.
The game was only 12 minutes’ old when flanker Dawson cut around the blindside of a lineout, exposing some sleepy Dragons defenders, to score under the posts.
Australian full-back Clinton Schifcofske added the conversion, increasing the optimism around the old ground that a first win of the season was in the offing.
The Dragons made six changes to the team that capitulated to Munster and gradually the refreshed visiting side got back in touch.
A lineout infringement allowed James Arlidge slot his first successful penalty, towards the end of the first quarter.
With Ulster failing to trouble the scoreboard despite a serious amount of possession in dangerous areas, Japanese international Arlidge reduced the deficit to a single point after 29 minutes.
His third penalty goal followed in first half injury-time as the Dragons, despite playing second fiddle for a large chunk of the half, took a 9-7 lead into the dressing rooms.
Turner’s charges almost put former Ulster back rower Grant Webb over for a try in the opening minute of the second half.
Webb made huge ground, only for him to be denied by Fijian winger Timoci Nagusa’s last-ditch tackle in the corner.
Frsutration spread for Ulster as speedsters Darren Cave and Andrew Trimble failed to convert a couple of one-on-ones and flanker Matt McCullough lost control of the ball over the Dragons’ try line just when Ulster looked poised to regain the lead.
The Dragons were having a good slice of the luck but they did do well to defend their line when winger Richard Fussell was sin-binned, nine minutes after the restart.
Just 12 minutes from the finish, the match-winning score arrived when centre Ashley Smith pounced to score a simple try after Nagusa had lost control of possession in Ulster territory.
An up-and-under from Arlidge caught the Ulster defence napping, the fly-half followed up to regain possession and while he was stopped short of the line, an Ulster hand misdirected his attempted pass behind the line and Smith reacted quickest to score.
Arlidge made it a seven-pointer, although Ulster were quick to reply.
Replacement Ian Humphreys, in his first competitive game for the province, chased up on his own chip kick to score close to the posts after a sizzling break from Cave.
Schifcofske’s successful conversion made it 16-14 in the Dragons’ favour and despite a helter-skelter final few minutes with Ulster mostly on the attack, the visitors gritted their teeth and kept ahead.
The defeat, coupled with home wins for Edinburgh and Connacht, means Ulster are now bottom of the table. The win has the Dragons in eighth position, two points ahead of Connacht.
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