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Ospreys 23-22 Ulster

FORWARDS coach Jonathan Humphreys praised the fortitude of his young Ospreys side as they held on to secure a one-point victory over the Ulstermen at the Liberty Stadium.

At stages throughout the match the Welsh region looked as if they were going to suffer a seventh Magners League defeat after trailing 13-0 after 20 minutes and 19-14 shortly after half-time.

But they were indebted to a try from Marty Holah and the boot of outside-half Dan Biggar, who kicked six of his seven penalty attempts.

“We delighted with the performance. It was tough to go behind early doors but this team has got great spirit,” said Humphreys.

“It was great to see them stick to our game-plan and they played as a team and that’s what got us back into it and helped get us the victory.”

The Ospreys were helped by some good performances from their younger players not least from Tom Smith, who won the official man of the match award, and centre Ashley Beck, who provided the pass for the Ospreys’ only try.

Their other points came from Dan Biggar who kicked six out of his seven penalty attempts.

The Ospreys handed a Magners League start to wing Tom Prydie despite having already four Wales caps to his name.

In all the Ospreys, captained by Jerry Collins, had 24 players unavailable through international duty with Wales, Scotland, Wales U-20s and Wales Sevens, and injury.

Ulster made the more encouraging start and were good for their 6-0 lead after 11 minutes with two Ian Humphreys penalty goals.

The Ospreys went through the phases as they tried to get into Ulster’s 22 but the visitors’ defence held firm.

A Richard Fussell long pass to Prydie looked to have sent the wing through down the right, but referee Neil Paterson adjudged a forward pass.

And the Scottish official found himself in the thick of the action awarding a penalty try to Ulster on 15 minutes when Prydie tackled Humphreys without the ball as he chased a ball across the line. Š

There were ironic cheers from a poor home crowd five minutes later when Mr Paterson awarded the Ospreys a penalty from a scrum offence, a kick Biggar converted to get his side on the scoreboard.

That and a penalty miss by Humphreys seemed to rejuvenate the Welsh region and from a five metre lineout taken by Smith, the Ospreys score their first try with centre Beck putting in a long pass for Marty Holah to go in at the left corner.

With the Ulster pack getting penalised, Biggar kicked a penalty to close the gap to just two points.

And Ulster’s cause was not helped that Humphreys was forced off with a shoulder injury on 32 minutes, replaced by Paul Marshall, who went to scrum-half with Ruan Pienaar at 10.

There was worse to follow for the Ulstermen just before half-time when Tim Barker was sin-binned for throwing a punch on the floor with Biggar converting the subsequent penalty from five metres inside his own half to give the home side a 14-13 interval lead.

Despite being down a man, Ulster were kicked back into the lead with a Pienaar penalty three minutes after the, and a further six minutes later the South African was on target again.

But back to their full complement Ulster gave away three penalties with Biggar kicking three penalties to give the Ospreys a four-point lead.

With seven minutes left, the Ulstermen earned a penalty goal in front of the Ospreys posts, which Pienaar kicked, but it was not enough.

Labels: Battling, Ospreys, success, WalesOnline