Ulster edged out by late Glasgow tries

A late John Cooney penalty secured a losing point for Ulster to keep them a point ahead of Glasgow Warriors in the BKT United Rugby Championship.

The Warriors, however, extended their unbeaten streak in all competitions to 10 matches with a hard-fought 17-11 win at Scotstoun.

Sione Vailanu went over midway through the first half for Glasgow but a try from Harry Sheridan and Nathan Doak's penalty ensured the visitors went into the break 8-5 up.

Jack Dempsey and Fraser Brown went over late in the second half to put the hosts in control before Cooney’s late penalty ensured Ulster left with something.

The hosts set out their stall early on, winning back possession straight from kick-off and sending a kickable penalty to touch as they set up camp in Ulster's 22.

But they could not find a way past Ulster’s determined defence and a Vailanu knock-on allowed the visitors to clear the danger.

Ulster threatened when a clever cross-kick from Billy Burns nearly caught the Warriors out, but the bounce did not go Jacob Stockdale’s way.

The deadlock was eventually broken on 17 minutes when Glasgow kicked another penalty to the corner, Scott Cummings claimed the line-out and Valianu got the downward pressure after the maul had rumbled over the line.

Tom Jordan missed the touchline conversion, and Ulster had a chance to bounce right back with a similar try to the one they had just conceded, but an Alan O’Connor offside let the Warriors off the hook.

The visitors kept building pressure, helped by a series of penalties conceded by Glasgow, and the dam eventually broke just before the half hour mark when Sheridan rumbled over from close range.

Ulster continued to dominate during the final 10 minutes of the first half, but the hosts stood firm, until