Late surge from Connacht falls short as Ulster prevail

Jack Carty missed an injury-time conversion to snatch an unlikely draw for Connacht as Ulster ended their three-game losing streak at the Sportsground.

Trailing by 13 points with two minutes remaining, Connacht produced a stunning late rally with tries from replacements Jarrad Butler and Adam Byrne, the latter scoring in the fifth minute of added time.

However, Carty's conversion from out wide swung the wrong side of the posts as their three-match winning run was halted.

Ulster looked home and hosed when hooker Tom Stewart crossed twice in nine minutes after the restart to put Ulster 19-3 up, having led by two points at the end of an error-strewn first half thanks to Rob Lyttle’s try.

Caolin Blade responded for Connacht on 60 minutes, only for a John Cooney penalty to make it 21-8, but Greg Jones' sin-binning sparked a thrilling finish, with the Westerners coming up narrowly short. Their poor record in interprovincial derbies continues – this was their eighth defeat in nine matches against their neighbours.

Connacht didn’t look like taking anything from this game for 70-plus minutes. While they edged the scrum battle, their attack faltered, with a dismal kicking game looking to have put paid to any hopes of extending that run.

Despite the big finish this game was far from a Christmas cracker, with Ulster also fluffing their lines in attack, particularly during the first half. Their slender lead would have been a source of frustration at half-time but they atoned for that in the second half thanks to Stewart’s double, both of which were converted by Cooney, who also tagged on a late penalty.

Connacht’s only defeats in their last eight matches had come against Leinster and Munster, and there was little to suggest they would