Ulster win at Dragons to join Leinster at top

The win puts Ulster level with Leinster on 40 points at the top of the table but the defending champions have a superior points difference and a game in hand over Dan McFarland’s side.

After absorbing Dragons pressure in the first 10 minutes Ulster wasted an opportunity to break the stalemate.

From a scrum on halfway Nick Timoney broke off the base, he fed Nathan Doak and the scrum-half put in a probing kick behind the defence. Dragons full-back Josh Lewis carried the ball over his own try line.

From the resulting five-metre scrum the Ulster forwards battered the Dragons line before Kieran Treadwell knocked on in contact.

Ulster wasted a chance four minutes before the break. They kicked a penalty to the corner, the pack just managed to line the lineout but the visitors conceded a penalty on the ground.

Despite the wintry conditions Ulster opened the scoring with a brilliant try in the final minute of the first half.

James Hume - released from Ireland camp - got his hands on the ball for one of the first times in the game, he fielded a kick on his own 10 metre line and made light of the heavy pitch, gliding across the turf and opening up the home defence.

Doak ran a great support line and took the ball of the Irish centre on the Dragons 22, he powered close to the line, the ball was quickly recycled and moved wide for flanker Marcus Rea to go over in the corner. Doak failed with the touchline conversion so Ulster went into the interval with a 5-0 lead.

Ulster got their second try six minutes after the restart. From a third attacking lineout in the Dragons 22 hooker John Andrew rumbled over from the back of a maul with Doak landing the difficult conversion.

Dragons had replacement prop Mesake Doge sin binned on 75 minutes for a illegal tackle on Stewart Moore.

Doak saw a long range strike the uprights in injury time at the end of the game.

Ulster: R Lyttle, R Baloucoune, J Hume, S McCloskey, Ben Moxham; B Burns, N Doak, A Warwick, J Andrew, T O’Toole; K Treadwell, S Carter; D McCann, M Rea, N Timoney (Capt).

Replacements: B Roberts for Andrew 50 mins, E O’Sullivan for Warwick 50 mins, M Moore for O’Toole 50 mins, C Izuchukwu or Carter 62 mins, Matty Rea for McCann 62 mins, D Shanahan, I Madigan for Burns 70 mins, S Moore for McCloskey 72 mins.

Ref: A Piardi (FIR).

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