UR-2021.22-Programme-Benetton

Last Time Out
03 - 36
Five minutes and another Zebre yellow
card later, Ulster’s forwards carried hard
and kept it tight. Nick Timoney was the
man to show real strength to get over for
their fifth try. Nathan Doak, who had been
pulling the strings all evening, slotted over
the conversion.
Zebre tried to respond and had an
opportunity, but good Ulster defensive
pressure caused the hosts to knock-on a few
metres out, and scuppering their only real
chance in the second half.
The Ulster men saw out the game with
a flourish, with Sean Reidy sending Nick
Timoney on a barnstorming run and a
change of direction to run in untouched for
his second try. Mike Lowry landed the two
on the final whistle.
Full-time score:
Zebre 03 - 36 Ulster
A strong second half from Ulster saw them
claim a bonus-point victory over Zebre in
Parma last Saturday evening.
The opening exchanges proved to be a tight
encounter with an aerial kicking battle to
test the back field of both sides. Zebre had a
spell of territory, but Ulster did well with their
maul defence for Rob Herring to get out of
immediate danger five metres out.
Ulster’s first chance came in the 14th
minute with Nathan Doak, making his first
competitive start for Ulster, making his
way agonisingly close to the Zebre try line.
The hosts’ defensive efforts paid off with a
penalty which Carlo Canna kicked to touch
to relieve the pressure.
Another opportunity came for the visitors as
Tom O’Toole tried to muscle his way over but
after a TMO check, he was just short. Ulster
finally broke the deadlock on 20 minutes
when they opted to go wide with Billy Burns
firing the ball out to Ethan McIlroy to bundle
over in the corner.
Zebre narrowed the deficit to two shortly
before the break – Antonio Rizzi who had
come on to replace Carlo Canna landed the
kick for the hosts.
Ulster struck again just before the half-time
whistle. They again opted to go through
the hands and James Hume made a lovely
step and delayed pass to McIlroy who ran
through for his second try of the evening to
put Ulster seven ahead at the break.
It didn’t take long for another score to come
from Ulster after the interval. They benefited
from poor Zebre discipline and Craig Gilroy
did really well to collect the loose ball to pop
out to Will Addison for their third try. Billy
Burns made no mistake with the extras.
Zebre’s discipline again faltered, and prop
Ion Neculai was sent to the sin-bin after
repeated infringements. The floodgates
started to open and once again, Craig
Gilroy came to the fore to collect the ball
off the floor and flick it out the back door
to James Hume who ran through for the
bonus-point try.
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