Glasgow Warriors 13-19 Ulster: Warriors' Euro hopes take a dent

Glasgow's Adam Hastings made his return from injury against Ulster after a long lay-off. Picture: Craig Williamson/SNS

Aki Seiuli got the Warriors’ only try, converted by Ross Thompson, and earlier Adam Hastings had marked his return from injury with two penalties, but in the end this has to go down as another disappointment for Danny Wilson’s side, whose hopes of a top-three finish in Pro14 Conference A are hanging by a thread.

Ulster scored three tries and might well have had a couple more. After a dour opening quarter, they thought they had opened the scoring midway through the first half when Marcell Coetzee crossed at the end of a lineout maul. There was no evidence of a grounding, however, and, after a consultation with the TMO, referee Ben Blain’s ruling was no try.

With just five minutes left in the half, an excellent break up the left touchline by Jamie Dobie set up good position for the Warriors, then moments later Robbie Fergusson gained further ground on the right. Richie Gray took it on, Eric O’Sullivan was penalised for not rolling away after the tackle, and Hastings opened the scoring from the penalty.

Ryan Wilson and Tom Gordon of Warriors try to stop an Ulster attack. Picture: Ross MacDonald/SNS

Those three points looked like being the only ones of the half, but in the final few seconds an inspired counter-attack by Ulster, begun after a Dobie pass was intercepted, ended in full-back Michael Lowry going over from a John Cooney pass. Cooney added the conversion to make it 3-7 for the visitors at the break, though an injury which ended Coetzee’s involvement dampened their enthusiasm as they came off the pitch.

Ten minutes into the second half, another long-range penalty by Hastings reduced the deficit to a single point. Ulster’s response was immediate, but after heavy pressure their chance of a second try ended when Gilroy knocked on as he attempted to ground in the right corner while being tackled by Huw Jones and Ratu Tagive.

Gilroy was not to be denied a second time, however, and after 56 minutes had a simple score in the same corner. The initial break came from Ian Madigan then was taken on by the forwards before the same Cooney-Lowry combination that had produced the first try came up with the goods for Gilroy. Cooney’s conversion attempted was wide, but at 6-12 the momentum had swung back in Ulster’s favour.

Going into the final quarter they were initially denied a third try from open play by some defiant Warriors defence, but then Madigan sent a penalty to touch and the maul did the rest, with Nick Timoney being credited with the score. Cooney was on target this time, and the game was gone for Glasgow.

James Scott came on for his debut as a replacement for the injured Wilson, and the home side tried to up the tempo, but unforced errors were again their undoing.

Then just as the match was petering out, Ulster replacement scrum-half Alby Mathewson was sinbinned five minutes from time for a deliberate knock-on. Another penalty was tapped by Grant Stewart, and Seiuli bulldozed his way over to score. Thompson converted to make it 13-19 and give Glasgow a glimpse of last-gasp glory, but the 14 men held firm.

Scorers: Glasgow: Try: Seiuli. Con: Thompson. Pens: Hastings 2.

Ulster: Tries: Lowry, Gilroy, Timoney. Cons: Cooney 2.

Glasgow Warriors: H Jones; R Tagive, R Fergusson, S Johnson, R McLean; A Hastings (R Thompson 64), J Dobie (S Kennedy 69); O Kebble (A Seiuli 61), J Matthews (G Stewart 41), E Pieretto (D Rae 71), R Gray, L Nakarawa (T Ioane 57), R Harley, T Gordon, R Wilson (captain) (J Scott 63). Unused substitute: O Smith.

Ulster: M Lowry; C Gilroy (M Faddes 72), J Hume, S McCloskey, R Lyttle; I Madigan, J Cooney (A Mathewson 69); E O’Sullivan (A Warwick 51), J Andrew (A McBurney 51), M Moore (T O’Toole 47), A O’Connor, K Treadwell (C Izuchukwu 58), N Timoney, J Murphy (captain), M Coetzee (G Jones 41). Unused substitute: S Moore.

Yellow card: Ulster: Mathewson 74.

Referee: B Blain (Scotland).