Ulster Progress To The Final

Glasgow Rugby 13 - 20 Ulster Hughenden   Att: 4,128 Referee: Hugh Watkins Friday 14th November 2003, 19:30

Ulster marched into the Celtic Cup final with a hard-earned victory over Glasgow at Hughenden.

The visitors traded body blows with a determined home side in the opening stages before pulling away to seal the win, with kicker Adam Larkin the most popular man in Ulster as he registered 15 points. But for Glasgow, there was a terrible feeling of déja vu. The Warriors were aiming to make amends for their Celtic League defeat by Ulster in Match week 2- but again they could found themselves flattened by a side with superior confidence and firepower. Ulster's Australian centre Ryan Constable sparked the victory with the game's first try, a fine solo effort that showed off his strength as he broke two tackles to touch down in the corner. Dan Parks opened Glasgow's account with a penalty, but despite a 15-minute spell of home pressure, it was Ulster who put points on the board when Larkin scored his first three-pointer after Glasgow crept offside. The end-to-end action continued in the build-up to the interval and the Warriors hit back with a slick drop-goal by Parks at the end of a sustained spell of phase-play. Ulster suffered a major setback in stoppage time when lock Matt McCullough was stretchered off with a serious-looking ankle injury. They made a spate of substitutions at the restart and stepped up the pace in the opening stages of the second half. Larkin slotted another penalty from close-range after Glasgow failed to roll clear in the wake of a tackle. Welsh referee Huw Watkins incurred the wrath of the home fans in the 6,000 crowd again five minutes later. First, he penalised Andy Hall for charging offside at a ruck when the ball appeared to be out and free to be played. And to increase Glasgow's frustrations, he then ordered Hall to the sin-bin - despite the understandable protests from skipper Cammy Mather. They enjoyed a reprieve as Larkin was off-target with a penalty from 50 metres but he rediscovered his touch six minutes from time from an awkward angle. Larkin then clipped over an opportunist drop-goal to give Ulster an 11-point cushion. Only then did Glasgow find the key to unlock the defence with a Graeme Morrison try, goaled by sub Calvin Howarth. But it was too late to turn the tide, and Larkin had the last word with penalty No. 4.

Glasgow Rugby V Ulster   P D C T Pos Player Player Pos T C D P   Rory Kerr 15 Bryn Cunningham Dave Millard 14 James Topping Gareth Maclure 13 Ryan Constable 1 1 Graeme Morrison 12 Paul Steinmetz Sean Lamont 11 Tyrone Howe 1 1 Dan Parks 10 Adam Larkin 1 4 Sam Pinder 9 Kieran Campbell Matthew Proudfoot 1 Bryan Young Scott Lawson 2 Matt Sexton Lee Harrison 3 Rod Moore Andrew Hall 4 Matt Mustchin Nathan Ross 5 Matt McCullough Cameron Mather 6 Andy Ward Paul Dearlove 7 Neil Best Donnie Macfadyen 8 Tony McWhirter Replacements Simon Gunn 16 Shane Stewart Andrew Kelly 17 Neil Doak Joe Beardshaw 18 Scott Young Roland Reid 19 Simon Best Mark McMillan 20 Rowan Frost 1 Calvin Howarth 21 Paul Shields Jon Steel 22 Roger Wilson Penalty Tries 0 0

All Pictures: ©  http://www.inpho.ie/, Huw Evans Agency,  Martin Stuart