RUGBY: Ulster boss hails his troops
Fantastic," declared Ulster head coach, Brian McLaughlin as he saw his side win a pulsating opening Magners League clash against defending champions, Ospreys, 27-26 in Belfast.
Outhalf, Niall O'Connor, turned out to be the hero of the evening when he nailed a penalty kick eight minutes from the end to nudge Ulster into the one-point advantage on a scoreline which had see-sawed between the sides throughout the second half.
Ulster then dug in and ground out the result, showing great maturity to hold on to a lead when a year ago they would have probably slipped up at the end.
Tries from Stephen Ferris and Darren Cave, with O'Connor converting one and adding two penalties gave Ulster an 18-16 lead at the break, winger Richard Fussell and outhalf Dan Biggar's boot keeping Osprey in touch.
It was the outhalf contest in the second half as Biggar and O'Connor exchanged the kicks, although Biggar looked to have turned the game in his side's favour with a goal, when he went over for a try and then duly converted.
But in a great backs to the wall display, Ulster turned a 26-24 deficit on the hour mark into a 27-26 victory.
A delighted McLaughlin said: "I think we showed our intent, we had to show where we wanted to go and that's what we did.
"There were big performances from everyone, you can't single anyone out, the 23 players put in a superb effort tonight.
"It was a brilliant second half, backs to the wall stuff at times but we got the victory we so badly wanted.
"Our defence was excellent and although we could have done better with the ball in hand at times we were strong defensively."
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Weather for Belfast
Tuesday 14 February 2012
Today
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Temperature: 6 C to 8 C
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