Ulster end losing run
Ulster have climbed from ninth place to fifth in the Magners League after recording a 12-0 victory at home to Glasgow.
Last Updated: 07/03/09 11:09pm
Ulster have climbed from ninth place to fifth in the Magners League after recording a 12-0 victory at home to Glasgow.
In taking the win, Matt Williams' side halted a two-match losing run - their last victory in the league coming against Munster in Limerick in early January.
First-half tries from Darren Cave and Andrew Trimble ensured the win; however, as a spectacle the match was forgettable - no points forthcoming in a second half marred by heavy rain.
Playing into the strong wind, Ulster opened the scoring after two minutes when, from a scrum, Simon Danielli came on a diagonal run off Ian Humphreys' pass.
The Scotland international then offloaded to Cave, who scored close to the posts, with Humphreys converting.
Dan Parks then had a chance to narrow Ulster's lead but his 13th-minute penalty went wide.
That set the tone for most of the rest of the half as Glasgow's error count and poor decision-making increased as the weather worsened.
Prop Kevin Tkachuk was sin-binned by referee Nigel Owens after 25 minutes for handling on the deck.
And, with Glasgow still a man down, Ulster scored again when Danielli put Trimble into space - the winger then bursting through two tackles for a well-taken score.
Humphreys missed the conversion before, with two minutes remaining on the clock, Parks put another penalty attempt wide.
Glasgow did have a chance as the opening period drew to a close but, with an overlap developing outside him, full-back Bernardo Stortoni instead chose to grubber kick.
There was little action to be enjoyed as driving rain and a howling wind dominated the opening exchanges of the second half.
Humphreys missed a 50-metre penalty - his side also briefly having no props on the field after replacement Tom Court left the field for attention and Justin Fitzpatrick visited the sin bin for killing the ball.
Even with Court's return, the scrums remained uncontested until Fitzpatrick's release from the sin bin two minutes before the hour mark.
Glasgow finished the match in the ascendant but had nothing to show for their efforts.