Ulster humble French giants
Ulster moved to joint top spot in Pool 4 with a comprehensive 23-13 victory over Stade Francais in Saturday's Heineken Cup clash.
By Simon Dilger
Last Updated: 12/12/09 5:51pm
Ulster moved to share top spot in Pool 4 with Stade Francais after a comprehensive 23-13 victory over the Parisian giants in their Heineken Cup clash at Ravenshill.
A superb display by fly-half Ian Humphreys underpinned a dominant performance that saw the hosts score tries either side of half time courtesy of Nigel Brady and Simon Danielli.
Stade managed just one try in response during a performance marked by poor-discipline and frayed tempers that saw both Julien Dupuy and David Attoub sin-binned in the second half.
The Frenchmen will also be rueing several missed penalties that might have got them closer to Ulster's score and a crucial bonus point ahead of their return clash in Brussels next weekend.
Stade had a chance to take an early lead in the seventh minute but fly-half Lionel Beauxis watched his penalty kick sail wide of the posts from 30 metres.
Opposite number Humphreys saw his own effort bounce off the upright four minutes later but a knock on by James Haskell gave Ulster the scrum seven metres out.
Handed another penalty at the scrum, the bearded stand-off made no mistake with an easy three points to give his side the lead on 12 minutes.
Superb
Beauxis tried to even things up with a drop-goal after quarter of an hour but could not hit the target.
Two minutes later though, he slotted a simple penalty to tie the scores after full- back Clinton Schifcofske was punished for obstruction.
The Ulster reply came rapidly, Humphries showing superb vision and deft hands to open up the Stade defence, slipping the ball first outside to the wing before offloading the return back inside to Nigel Brady for a brilliantly worked try.
The fly-half made it three from four with the conversion to give his side a 10-3 lead.
Beauxis missed again in the 23rd minute but four minutes later when awarded another soft penalty, he fired home from in front of the posts to close the gap to 10-6.
Humphreys restored the hosts' seven-point buffer six minutes before the break to take his side into half time with the scores at 13-6.
Five minutes after the restart he made it 16-6 after Stade scrum-half Julien Dupuy was sent to the sin bin for a late shoulder charge.
Brilliant
The hosts made their man advantage pay almost instantly through some brilliant interplay between the backs for an outstanding try, started from deep inside their own 22.
Stephen Ferris outpaced the visitors' defence with a blistering burst before feeding Simon Danielli, who skipped over to finish the move and make it 21-6.
Humphreys added the extras to give Ulster a daunting 17-point lead over the French giants 10 minutes into the second half.
He could not find the distance however with a long range effort from the half-way line four minutes later and Oelschig sent one wide for Stade in the 56th minute.
Julien Arias touched down behind the posts after 69 minutes but was denied his try after the touch judge spotted Haskell pushing Danelli off the ball to set Arias free.
Within four minutes both sides found themselves down to 14 men for the remainder of the match when Attoub (Stade) and Young (Ulster) received yellow cards after a fight broke out in the middle.
The visitors' try came with six minutes to go when they quickly swept the ball wide from a line-out to end with Arias racing in down the touchline following a beautifully timed pass from Gasnier
Oelschig added the extras to take the score to 23-13 and give his side a chance of securing a bonus point to stay top of the group.
But with just two minutes to go the South African half back saw his penalty attempt drift wide and with it Stade's chances of getting within seven points.
