/”URC: Ulster Triumph Over Cardiff 19-17
In a pivotal United Rugby Championship match for their playoff aspirations, Ulster somehow managed to clinch a victory, however struggled throughout the evening to make their mark. Both teams gave a tense and mistake-prone performance, but it was a decisive penalty in the 78th minute from John Cooney that secured the crucial four points Ulster desperately needed from this showdown. While a full five points would’ve been the optimum outcome, this still marked a victory in Richie Murphy’s inaugural home game since assuming command.
Despite the necessity for a positive start, Ulster unfortunately faltered, with the initial 10 minutes witnessing several unforced errors. Theo Cabango, Cardiff’s winger, capitalised on these mistakes, piercing through Ulster’s lax defence to make a try. The try was subsequently converted by Tinus de Beer.
The remainder of the first half was filled with missed scoring opportunities by Ulster, compounded by errors from Tom Stewart and Dave Ewers and a reversal of a scrum decision, leading to a one-point lead for Cardiff at half-time, with loss of Taulupe Faletau adding to Cardiff’s troubles.
The second half opened with Cabango scoring once again under the goalposts, providing De Beer with an easy conversion. Ulster’s challenges magnified when Jacob Stockdale was shown a yellow card on the 48th minute for a deliberate knock-on. However, they withstood this pressure and in a twist of fate, found themselves profiting just as Stockdale was preparing to return to the field. The decisive moment arrived when a scrappy, barely-secured penalty was kicked towards the corner, ultimately seeing David McCann pushing through to score.”/
John Cooney, who replaced Doak in-action, managed a successful conversion, taking Cardiff’s lead to 14-13. Stepping up again, Cooney’s 65th-minute long-range kick, following a penalty against Cardiff at a breakdown, placed the home team in the lead for the initial time in the match.
Close to the match end, with less than 10 minutes remaining, a re-emerged breakdown saw Postlethwaite getting penalised, with De Beer securing the lead for the visitors again. Cardiff seemed in control once more when a breakaway resulted in what Cabango believed to be his third goal. However, the game witnessed a reversal with replacement hooker Rhys Carré being yellow carded for a deliberate knock-on, and the play was called back.
This led to a penalty well within Cooney’s kick range, who managed to get the ball across the posts, delaying enough for Ulster to cross the finish line.
The Ulster team included W Addison, M Lowry, J Hume, J Postlethwaite, J Stockdale, J Flannery, N Doak, E O’Sullivan, T Stewart, S Wilson, H Sheridan, A O’Connor, the captain, D Ewers, Marcus Rea, and D McCann. Replacements included J Andrew for Stewart, A Warwick for O’Sullivan, T O’Toole for Wilson, Wilson substituting O’Toole as well. J Cooney was in for Doak, and B Burns replaced Flannery at halftime, E McIlroy replaced Hume in the 18th minute. J Stockdale received a yellow card at 48 minutes.
The Cardiff Rugby team consisted of C Winnett, J Adams, M Grady, B Thomas, T Cabango, T de Beer, E Bevan, C Domachowski, L Belcher, the captain, K Assiratti, B Donnell, T Williams, A Mann, T Young, and T Faletau. Replacements brought R Carré for Domachowski and other team member changes throughout the game.
Yellow card was assigned to R Carre at 78 minutes by the referee, M Adamson from the SRU.