Ulster too good for Dragons
PRO14 REPORT: Stuart McCloskey’s second-half double was enough to quell a Dragons fightback and secure a first Pro14 win in four for Ulster.
Dan McFarland’s man began at pace and got the game’s first tries through Henry Speight and Dave Shanahan before Huw Taylor replied.
Electric full-back Michael Lowry stole in before the break and after the interval McCloskey grabbed his first to register the bonus point.
Jarryd Sage powered over to threaten a late comeback but McCloskey had the last laugh, putting the seal on a 36-18 five-try win.
Ulster started on the front foot with a fervent home crowd in support and were rewarded for their efforts on seven minutes as Johnny McPhillips got the scoreboard ticking with a penalty.
It didn’t take long to get the next score, with McPhillips playing from advantage and releasing Speight down the left, the Australian left with an easy run-in to spring over the line.
An even better try was to come, with centre Will Addison bursting out of his own half and eating up the metres before offloading to Shanahan on his left – the scrum-half left with little to do on his way to the tryline.
Dragons were in the game though and got their first five-pointer after a spell of pressure, centre with Adam Warren breaking through a tackle into the 22 and Taylor subsequently muscling over.
The hosts were finding their attacking flow and scored another superb try just before the break, fullback Lowry displaying some lightning-fast stepping to dart through the defence and dot the ball down.
With the score at 24-13 at half-time both sides continued to entertain in the second half, with McCloskey grabbing the crucial try from short distance in the corner on 49 minutes.
The Welsh region weren’t going to lie down though and just after the hour-mark pushed for a response, eventually getting the ball over the line but being pulled back for an unfortunate knock-on.
The try did come on 67 minutes and from an attacking scrum inside the Ulster 22, with flyhalf Jason Tovey deceiving the defence and playing in Sage, Addison making a firm tackle but unable to stop the powerful centre.
At 18-29 down Bernard Jackman’s men continued to press in the final ten minutes but were undone by a Jordy Murphy turnover at the breakdown – Kieran Treadwell busting out of tackles in midfield and then galloping across the turf before playing in McCloskey.
The scorers:
For Ulster:
Tries: Speight, Shanahan, Lowry, McCloskey 2
Cons: McPhillips 4
Pen: McPhillips
For Dragons:
Tries: Taylor, Sage
Con: Tovey
Pens: Tovey 2
Teams:
Ulster: 15 Michael Lowry, 14 Robert Baloucoune, 13 Will Addison, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Henry Speight, 10 Johnny McPhillips, 9 Dave Shanahan, 8 Marcell Coetzee, 7 Jordi Murphy, 6 Sean Reidy, 5 Kieran Treadwell, 4 Iain Henderson, 3 Marty Moore, 2 Rory Best (captain), 1 Eric O’Sullivan.
Replacements: 16 Rob Herring, 17 Andrew Warwick, 18 Tom O’Toole, 19 Alan O’Connor, 20 Greg Jones, 21 Jonny Stewart, 22 Angus Kernohan, 23 Peter Nelson.
Dragons: 15 Jordan Williams, 14 Dafydd Howells, 13 Adam Warren, 12 Jarryd Sage, 11 Will Talbot-Davies, 10 Jason Tovey, 9 Rhodri Williams, 8 Harrison Keddie, 7 Nic Cudd, 6 Huw Taylor, 5 Lewis Evans, 4 Matthew Screech, 3 Lloyd Fairbrother, 2 Richard Hibbard (captain), 1 Brok Harris.
Replacements: 16 Rhys Lawrence, 17 Aaron Jarvis, 18 Ryan Bevington, 19 Joe Davies, 20 Taine Basham, 21 Tavis Knoyle, 22 Jack Dixon, 23 Zane Kirchner.
Referee: Marius Mitrea (Italy)
Assistant referees: John Carvill (Ireland), Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy)
TMO: Olly Hodges (Ireland)
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