Rugby

Murphy ‘massively disappointed’ as Ulster blow half-time lead to lose again on the road

Ulster let slip a 19-0 half-time lead as Cardiff stage second-half rally

UlsterÕs Jude Postlethwaite scores a try against Benetton Rugby during SaturdayÕs Bank of Ireland Pre-Season Friendly match at Kingspan Stadium. Picture by Brian Little
Jude Postlethwaite who was among the Ulster try scorers during Saturday night's defeat to Cardiff. Picture by Brian Little
By Paul McIntyre

Ulster’s away day blues continued after they lost to Cardiff 21-19, on Saturday night.

Ulster took a 19-0 lead into the changing rooms at the break. But somehow, from a position of control, Ulster let their guard down and Cardiff took full advantage to run in three converted second half tries to halt a three-game losing streak.

Ulster also lost David McCann for 10 second half minutes following a needless tackle on Cardiff scrum-half Aled Davies. It just added to what was a night of frustration for the Irish side.

Even in a second half to forget, Ulster still had their chances.

Harry Sheridan went close to grabbing a fourth try and with just five minutes remaining, Nathan Doak almost snatched victory, but his penalty just dropped short which allowed the hosts to clear their lines.

“We’re massively disappointed. When you’re 19 points ahead you should see it out and win the game,” fumed head-coach Richie Murphy afterwards.

“The yellow card was needless and we just invited Cardiff to attack us and we kept giving them a free shot.

Searching for that elusive first-away win of the season, and also wanting to build on two wins in as many weeks, Ulster kicked-off in the knowledge that victory at the Arms Park would’ve saw them go fourth in the URC table at the end of the first block of fixtures.

And for most of the night, it looked that that would have been the case.

Playing with vigour and confidence Ulster took the game to their hosts.

It didn’t take Cardiff long to buckle under the early pressure and they lost hooker Evan Lloyd to a yellow card. Ulster took full advantage and Cormac Izuchukwu celebrated his Ireland call-up in the best possible fashion by powering over the line for an early lead.

A few minutes later Ulster doubled their lead.

Scrum-half Nathan Doak made a break in midfield and his pass released Jude Postlethwaite to run in for an easy finish.

Doak converted both scores and Ulster held a deserving 14-0 lead.

It got even better for Ulster when Postlethwaite crashed over for a second time to push the lead out to 19-points.

Winger Werner Kok showed some outrageous athleticism to keep the ball alive. The ball was moved to Stuart McCloskey whose clever chip in behind the Cardiff rearguard was gathered by his centre partner Postlethwaite who finished off spectacularly for a commanding half-time lead.

“It was definitely going to plan at that stage,” added Murphy.

“I guess it was the 10 minutes before half-time Cardiff got back into the game. Although they didn’t score, our management of the next 10-minutes was pretty poor.

With Cardiff on the ropes, Ulster failed to deliver the knock-out punch that was required. And Cardiff took full advantage with three tries through Iwan Stephens, Daf Hughes and Thomas Young. Callum Sheedy’s converted all three to confirm Cardiff’s first win in four.

“We kept inviting Cardiff back into the game and giving them a free shot at us which ultimately brought them back into the game. Scored there; got a yellow card and pressure comes back down on top of you there.”

“We are obviously massively disappointed that we didn’t win the game. We were 19-0 up at half-time. You should go on and win the game. We didn’t. So, I’m disappointed.

There was further disappointment for Ulster as Iain Henderson was forced off injured after only 24 minutes.

“He’s obviously struggling. The doctor will have a look at him and make a decision there, so there’s no update there at the moment. But it wasn’t a head-injury,” confirmed Murphy.