The Ospreys remain winless in this season’s Magners League after they suffered their third defeat in a row on Friday night in Ulster. Lyn Jones’s championship winning team lost by the narrowest of margins at Ravenhill and now find themselves trailing league leaders Cardiff Blues by 11 points.
Jones’s side have earned bonus points in their three matches, but that is it. That is not the kind of form that will see them defend their crown and Jones will be pleased to see the return of his players on duty at the Rugby World Cup.
For the second time in three games a last-gasp penalty miss cost the Ospreys victory. Shaun Connor missed a shot at goal after Niall O’Connor had restored Ulster’s lead seconds earlier.
Three O’Connor penalties helped Ulster lead 9-3 at the interval with Connor notching the Ospreys score. Simon Danielli’s try increased Ulster’s lead but Andrew Bishop’s try helped the Ospreys take a 16-14 advantage before the crucial penalty by O’Connor went over in the 81st minute.
The Ulster fly-half scored 12 points to make it a miserable trip back home across the Irish Sea for the Ospreys. Shaun Connor suffered late heartache for the second time this season as he missed a penalty identical to the one he missed at the Arms Park.
And Andrew Bishop’s try from Shaun Connor’s pass was in vain as the Ospreys failed to kick-start their season. The defending champions had suffered back-to-back defeats against the Blues and Scarlets and to make matters worse were hit further by a flu bug that invaded Lyn Jones’s squad.
Jones was forced to delay naming his team and British Lions star Gavin Henson was a late withdrawal for what was described as family reasons. It is believed Henson last night stayed in Cardiff as singer and girlfriend Charlotte Church was imminently expecting to give birth to the couple’s first child.
Better news for the Ospreys was the return of lock Brent Cockbain who missed the home defeat to the Scarlets after suffering from a bout of tonsillitis.
Ulster fly half David Humphreys failed a late fitness test on an ankle injury with Niall O’Connor deputising while Tommy Bowe switched from the wing to partner new boy Seamus Mallon at centre.
The match began as a low-key affair and struggled to compete with the buzz of excitement in the stands for those fans waiting to watch the France versus Ireland Rugby World Cup clash which was shown on a large screen.
Ulster kicked off in beautiful clear conditions and opened the scoring after five minutes when the Ospreys were penalised for offside. O’Connor slotted over the penalty from a narrow angle. And the Ospreys slow start continued as Ulster went close to the first try of the match in the 14th minute. Brent Cockbain was turned over by Ryan Caldwell and Ulster prop Nigel Brady’s storming run to the left corner was only stopped by a last-ditch tackle by wing Aled Brew.
Moments later, O’Connor doubled Ulster’s lead with another penalty before Shaun Connor miscued his first penalty of the night wide of the posts from in front to complete a patchy opening quarter.
But Lyn Jones’s men managed to get a foothold on the game and got their first points on the scoreboard to reduce the deficit to three through Shaun Connor’s penalty just before the half hour mark. Referee David Changleng adjudged Ulster to be offside following Justin Marshall’s quick tap.
Before the interval, Connor had a nightmare couple of minutes. Firstly, he had an opportunity to give the Ospreys excellent field position but missed touch and within a minute threw a forward pass. In contrast, his opposite number O’Connor certainly had his kicking boots on as he extended the home side’s lead to 9-3 at the break.
And the frustration was clearly getting the better of the Ospreys as captain Filo Tiatia showed his anger at his side’s first half performance by throwing the ball down after another move broke down. The Ospreys hadn’t woken up at the start of the second half as Tiatia were lucky to escape a yellow card for foul play in the line-out.
Ulster capitalised and scored the first try of the match on 51 minutes when Lee Byrne knkcoed the ball on and in the following attack, Simon Danielli scored the crucial try when he took Tommy Bowe’s pass to round off a fine move.
