Ulster sink Bath Cup hopes

Ulster put an end to Bath's Heineken Cup hopes when they ran out 26-22 winners in a thrilling clash at the Recreation Ground.

The Irish side beat their rivals 22-18 last weekend and once again there were just four points separating the sides, leaving the hosts with only one win in four Pool 4 matches.

Bath received the perfect start when Matt Carraro went over in the corner in the opening minute, but Adam D'Arcy and Nevin Spence responded with tries either side of the break for Ulster, and with Ian Humphreys out-kicking Olly Barkley it is the visitors who have one foot in the quarter-finals.

The match turned on a yellow card shown to Bath's returning stand-off Butch James early in the second-half, with Spence capitalising on the extra man to cross and Humphreys dominating with the boot thereafter.

With play able to start after volunteers cleared snow from the top of the covers to the pitchside, Ulster were caught cold when Jack Cuthbert hit up through the middle and Lee Mears was on hand to send Carraro in.

Stand-in skipper Michael Claasens could have doubled the lead five minutes later when he charged down a Humphreys clearance, but he lost track of the ball and Carraro subsequently knocked on.

Barkley extended the lead with a penalty but the visitors hit back on 11 minutes, D'Arcy finishing off a quickly taken penalty after good work from number eight Robbie Diack.

Humphreys converted but prop BJ Botha was penalised for a high tackle on Claasens and Barkley extended the lead once more to 11-7.

Humphreys and Barkley swapped further penalties but the Ulster fly-half seemed to be struggling with an injury and his tactical kicking was too often handing the initiative back to Bath.

As half-time approached, however, Bath had failed to convert possession into points and Ruan Pienaar broke dangerously with Humphreys and the dangerous Trimble in support.

Short fuse

The home defence snuffed out the threat but only at the cost of a penalty which was landed by Humphreys from an acute angle to again cut the lead to a point.

James' notoriously short fuse lasted just four minutes into the second half when he was sin-binned after a scuffle with Dan Touhy.

But, having worked their way into the Bath 22, Ulster gave away two penalties in quick succession, surrendering hard won ground.

As James waited for a break in play to return to the field, Ulster seized their chance to string together phase after phase and finally Paddy Wallace put centre partner Spence in at the corner.

Humphreys converted magnificently and then added a 50-metre penalty for good measure to put his team ahead for the first time at 14-23.

Two penalties in quick succession saw Spence sent to the sin bin and Barkley pulled back three points from under the posts.

Suddenly Bath burst into life, attacking from their own 22 through Nick Abendanon and finishing off in spectacular fashion through Banahan in the opposite corner.

Barkley failed to convert but Humphreys, immediately handed a penalty chance from 40 metres, stretched the Ulster lead to a decisive four points, and they camped out on the Bath line for several crucial minutes before the referee blew the final whistle.