Dragons move second after Ravenhill scorcher
Ulster 21 Gwent Dragons 28
It was never a vintage performance but a fourth consecutive win for the Dragons consigned Ulster to their third home defeat this campaign and gave the Welsh side second place in the Celtic League – prior to tomorrow’s games.
Three second-half tries and 13 points from Ceri Sweeney gave the Dragons their first ever victory at what was once ’fortress Ravenhill’ and leaves Ulster well off the pace after only two wins from five games.
A scrappy and disjointed first half saw just three successful penalties and a plethora of handling errors and lineout turnovers.
The visitors got off the mark first with a Sweeney penalty after nine minutes but this did nothing to inspire either side to greater heights.
David Humphreys missed his first kick at goal five minutes before the half hour when the ball hit an upright.
He made up for his error three minutes later after Dragons failed to clear their lines, and were too casual in possession in their own 22, allowing Ulster to mount a rare threatening attack.
With Dragons infringing under their posts, Humphreys drew the sides level and then gave Ulster a 6-3 lead on 32 minutes after the home side had lost Roger Wilson to injury, forcing a reshuffle of their already depleted back row.
On the restart, Dragons had their first try within three minutes courtesy of an Ulster error – Humphreys tried to run the ball out of his own 22 but was flattened by Percy Montgomery.
The ball was spun into midfield and Morgan glided through some non-existent Ulster tackling to touch down under the posts for Sweeney to add the two points and give Dragons a 10-6 lead.
But Humphreys narrowed it to 10-9 after the Welsh side infringed at an attacking Ulster lineout on their line and the home side were back in it.
Dragons responded by upping the tempo and putting in some sustained continuity which nearly saw Rhys Thomas drive over the line. Instead, Dragons had to be content with a penalty which Sweeney converted.
Then, quite unexpectedly, two unconverted tries arrived in five minutes.
Just before the hour a rare Tyrone Howe break saw Humphreys put in a crossfield kick which, in the confusion, Neil Best pounced on.
Dragons replied with a great burst from Richard Bryan and quick recycling gave replacement prop Adam Black the try to put Dragons back in the lead at 18-14.
They then struck again when a Brew diagonal run saw him enter the open spaces to run in virtually unopposed. Sweeney added the points.
All that remained was a Ronnie McCormack try for the home side and the final Sweeney penalty gave Ulster a bonus point for their troubles.
