By Jason Harris
December 12 2005

Sure, it was nail-biting stuff, but the fare on offer at a damp, dark Ravenhill last Friay night showed that discipline and self-belief can sometimes beat big, bad bully tactics. And it was Ulster who had the vital commodities when it mattered - the final minutes - to take the lead and win 19-10. Many Saracens fans have their opinions on why the game was lost. Some play the usual Glan Jackson card; others think that Tevita Vaikona's disappointing performance was prolonged uncessarily, some think that Kevin Sorrell's departure from the fray was the turning point. The bottom line, however, is that Saracens failed to make the most of their superior possession and territory in the first hour to make the game safe.

Ulster kept their nerve, their heads and their home record as four David Humphreys penalties and a try from hooker Rory Best made Sarries pay for their lack of ambition and discipline.

It all started well for the Men in Black with Jackson opening the scoring on the quarter hour with a try under the posts which he converted easily, but his two penalty misses either side of his seven points meant that Ulster were still in the hunt at the break with the score reading 7-3 instead of a possible 13-3.

Sarries were still in the ascendancy in the second half, but again couldn't capitalise on their field position and ball retetntion. All they had to show was a Jackson penalty and as Ulster's team and supporters sensed that their 13-match unbeaten run in the competition could be extended, they pressed Sarries relentlessley into two crucial technical fouls that saw them concede 6 points and two players to the Irish side.

First, Thomas Castaignede was rightly sin-binned for a deliberate knock-on when Ulster had men spare on the right and a few minutes later replacement hooker Matt Cairns went the same way afer a petulant hack at the ball from an offside position after Andrew Trimble had beaten all but the last Sarries defender.

The penalty from the Cairns transgression put the home side into the lead which they were never to relinquish and they made absolutely sure when Best pounced on a ball coughed up on his own line by Paul Bailey who had earlier saved Sarries in a near identical defensive position.

The coup de grace came, inevitably, from Humphreys whose conversion from the touchline not only put the game out of reach, but also robbed Saracens of a priceless bonus point which means they now sit third in Pool 4, two points behind new leaders Biarritz and one point behind the Ulstermen.

SCORERS: Ulster: Try: R Best (79min). Conversion: Humphreys. Penalty goals: Humphreys 4 (26, 56, 72, 77). Saracens: Try: Jackson (14). Conversion: Jackson. Penalty goal: Jackson (62).

SCORING SEQUENCE (Ulster first): 0-7, 3-7 (half-time), 6-7, 6-10, 9-10, 12-10, 19-10.

ULSTER: B Cunningham; T Bowe, P Steinmetz, A Trimble, K Maggs; D Humphreys, K Campbell (rep: I Boss, 72); B Young, R Best, S Best, J Harrison, M McCullough, N Best, N McMillan (rep: S Ferris, 41), R Wilson.

SARACENS: D Scarbrough; P Bailey, T Castaignède (sin-bin, 72-80+2), K Sorrell, T Vaikona (rep: B J Russell, 72); G Jackson, K Bracken; K Yates (rep: B Broster, 64), S Byrne (rep: M Cairns, 64; sin-bin: 77), C Visagie, S Raiwalui, K Chesney, H Vyvyan, B T Russell, B Skirving (rep: Byrne, 80+2).

Referee: E Darrière (France).

Attendance: 12,300.