Ulster were denied URC victory against the Stormers at Ravenhill with the South Africans awarded a penalty try in the dramatic 38-38 draw.

Ulster had to settle for three match points, a return which puts them six clear of Connacht in the race to make the URC play-offs.

Werner Kok, recalled for the injured Jacob Stockdale, took just three minutes to open the scoring.

From a lineout, the Ulster forwards worked the ball patiently through a number of phases before out half Jack Murphy flung a long pass to the wing for Kok to score against his fellow countrymen and Nathan Doak converted from a tight angle.

placeholder image — Ulster's Richie Murphy. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)

The Stormers replied instantly as they won the kick off and loose head prop Ntuthuko Mchunu burst through. He was stopped close to the line but No8 Evan Roos picked up and went over from close range with Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu converting.

Ulster captain Iain Henderson was given a 20-minute red card for a croc roll on his opposite number Deon Fourie.

The Stormers made their numerical advantage count four minutes later as Feinberg-Mngomezulu enjoyed gains from some non-existent tackling in the Ulster defence to go over from close range.

The out half converted his own try and added a long-range penalty six minutes later to extend the visitors’ lead.

Kok got his and Ulster’s second try on 28 minutes and it was a carbon copy of the first. The forwards probed at the Stormers’ line for a number of phases before Doak launched a long-range pass to the wing for the South African to go over, the scrum half converted.

Back to their full complement, Ulster took the lead on 35 minutes as they kicked a penalty to the corner, the forwards set up a powerful drive from the lineout, Doak broke off the back and fed Zac Ward to go over.

Doak’s conversion gave Ulster a 21-17 lead at the interval.

Ulster had a lucky escape two minutes after the restart when the Stormers had a try chalked off.

The South Africans turned the ball over just outside the Ulster ‘22’ and created an overlap for winger Leolin Zas to dot down in the corner but it was adjudged that Ulster full back Michael Lowry was tackled in the air and the score disallowed.

From the resulting penalty, Ulster punished the visitors immediately - they kicked the penalty into the Stormers’ half, from the line out they moved the ball quickly across the pitch and Lowry squeezed over in the corner to seal a try bonus point.

But Doak was unable to convert as he ran out of time on the shot clock.

Ulster’s lead was reduced to two points on 48 minutes when Stormers scrum Imad Khan furrowed over from close range for the visitors’ third try which Feinberg-Mngomezulu converted.

The Stormers hit the front again on 62 minutes, the visitors were camped on Ulster’s line before Feinberg-Mngomezulu darted over for his second try and the out half converted his own score.

Kok completed his hat-trick on 69 minutes when, with a penalty advantage coming, replacement prop Tom McAllister carried deep into the 22 - the ball was moved quickly to the wing for the South African to go over but Doak couldn’t converted.

Ward made a break down the left wing, he was stopped short, the ball was quickly moved in-field and replacement prop Eric O’Sullivan powered over with Doak converting.

Stormers replacement Jurie Matthee was yellow-carded for an infringement in the build-up.

However, there was more drama with the clock ticking towards the red.

Zas went over in the corner but Doak prevented him from grounding it, however, on a TMO review the referee adjudged Doak hit the winger in the head with his shoulder and awarded the visitors a seven-pointer to tie the scores and the Ulster scrum half was yellow-carded.

ULSTER: M Lowry; W Kok, E McIlroy, J Postlethwaite, Z Ward; J Murphy, N Doak; A Bell, J McCormick, S Wilson, I Henderson (captain), C Irvine; C Izuchukwu, N Timoney, J Augustus. Replacements: T Stewart for McCormick 41 mins, E O’Sullivan for Bell 53 mins, T McAllister for Wilson 56 mins, H Sheridan for Henderson 29 mins, B Ward for Augustus 60 mins, C McKee, J Flannery for Murphy 63 mins, W de Klerk.

STORMERS: W Gelant; W Simelane, D du Plessis, D Willemse, L Zas; S Feinberg-Mngomezulu, I Khan;

N Mchunu, A-H Venter, S Sandi; A Smith, R van Heerden; D Fourie (captain), B-J Dixon, E Roos. Replacements: P de Villiers for Fourie 11 mins, O Kebble for Mchunu 61 mins, Z Porthen for Sandi 53 mins, C Evans for Dixon 65 mins, H Dayimani for Smith 63 mins, K Morabe for Roos 61 mins, S Ungerer for Khan 56 mins, J Matthee for Willemse 2 mins

Referee: A Piardi.