McCloskey Marks His 100th Ulster Cap With Match-Winning Try

Ulster left the Morganstone Brewery Field with a crucial scalp in the GUINNESS PRO14, grinding out an 8-0 victory over the Ospreys to temporarily move up to third in Conference B, just two points behind second-placed Edinburgh.

A Stuart McCloskey try on the occasion of his 100th cap, topped up by a John Cooney penalty on the stroke of full-time, made the difference in a war of attrition which may not remain long in the memory, but will surely please head coach Dan McFarland and defence coach Jared Payne in terms of the province’s stubborn resistance throughout.

Iain Henderson’s return from a finger injury, coupled with the release from international duty of Cooney and Jordi Murphy, gave McFarland’s starting line-up a formidable look on the occasion of McCloskey’s milestone appearance in Bridgend.

Ulster enjoyed virtually all the possession in the opening 10 minutes, with half-backs Michael Lowry and Cooney combining particularly well, and the scrum half eventually forced a penalty on 15 minutes – only for the decision to be reversed on TMO Tim Hayes’ recommendation due to a neck roll by Henderson in a maul.

The Ospreys came into their own at the start of the second quarter, winger Hanno Dirksen and centre Cory Allen making good ground until Ulster forced a turnover on 25 minutes. As the deadlock continued, Ulster’s young winger Angus Kernohan crossed the try-line on the half hout but just knocked on from McCloskey’s pass as he went to ground.

The hosts cleared their lines well from the resulting scrum, and despite more concerted possession Ulster produced only one more try-scoring opportunity in a scoreless opening half. It ended in frustration again as man-of-the-match McCloskey unfortunately knocked on two metres from the line after promising mauling from the province’s forwards.

The breakthrough came six minutes after the restart, Ulster’s newest centurion making the score with a strong break down the right flank and neat offload to Peter Nelson, before picking up again once the full-back was brought to ground, and touching down despite the attentions of Ospreys winger Luke Morgan.

Cooney’s conversion attempt rebounded back off the posts to keep the scoreline at 5-0, but the visitors continued to call the tune, coming close again on the hour mark through a rolling maul and, although possession was eventually lost, the Ospreys offered little with ball in hand and soon surrendered control.

An offside from Dirksen on 66 minutes offered Ulster the opportunity to extend the lead to eight point, but the decision was made to go to the corner instead – a choice that was soon rued when the Welshmen turned the ball over within 60 seconds of the throw-in.

Again, however, the Ospreys failed to punish Ulster’s wastefulness, until Louis Ludik was pulled up on 72 minutes for side-entry – and the hosts followed the trend by kicking to touch rather than the posts.

Ulster resisted the first drive, Lowry feeling the full effect of a collision while defending bravely – a clash which saw him replaced by James Hume with five minutes to go – but a fantastically sustained defensive effort at the restart eventually brought the turnover for the Ulstermen.

Then a penalty at scrum time with 90 seconds remaining wrapped the victory up, Cooney taking every second of the allotted time to steady himself, fix his aim and finally dispatch the three points right on the 80-minute mark, thereby denying the Ospreys the time for a restart and the faint hope of salvaging a losing bonus point.

Speaking in the aftermath, Ulster assistant coach Dwayne Peel said:

It wasn’t a classic but we held onto the ball well in that first half especially. We were disappointed not to finish ball in the corner but we created enough. We held onto the ball and we put a good Ospreys defence under pressure. They play a difficult style to break down.

“We’re a bit disappointed not to score a few more tries but in terms of making chance, we’re pretty happy. We were disappoint after the draw with Treviso at home because we felt we didn’t fire any shots. Tonight we fired shots and that’s the biggest thing for me.

“Stu (McCloskey) is huge for us. We had a presentation in there for his 100th cap. He’s huge, a great leader for us. He never takes a step backwards and he carries a lot of ball for us. He’s probably battered after every game but fair play to him. He’s key for us. He’s one of the best ball-players in our squad, definitely.

“I thought Michael Lowry was excellent in his first start at 10. He’s played a lot at 15 but I thought he controlled the game really well. I’m really pleased with him. He’s brave. I thought defensively he was excellent.”