This was a hard and brutal affair but in the end, with grit and determination and good old Ulster fortitude, we survived the five hour drive to Galway. The journey, from the warm tropical climate of the east coast to the barren wind blasted wasteland of the west, caused us to reflect on some of the epic trips of our playing days when we would visit the Ulster Rugby outposts of Monaghan and Cavan bringing our unique brand of sparkling rugby and girly magazines to the oppressed masses of the republic regime. In those days the sales of certain adult magazines was banned in the papal statelet so we’d stock up on our way down and exchange the well thumbed reading material for a bottle of Paddy’s Old Irish, after the game of course! Oh how the British Army border patrols used to laugh at our high jinks as we tried to slip quietly back into the north a little tired and emotional, but always ready to give them sound advice on how to catch terrorists!
Much has changed in this new united Europe but the roads south of Armagh are still pretty shit.
On arriving in Galway we made our way to the Huntsman Inn which quickly became an Ulster stronghold as more and more weary travellers from the north arrived for the game. We were informed of the progress of the UAFC bus by one of the late arrivals and were disappointed to learn that there were only eight or nine on board. Then again a ten hour round trip with Cap’n Grumpy on board may have been a bit much for all but the most hardy, or desperate, of Ulster supporter!
Suitably replenished we made our way to the Sportsground and it was good to see a fair proportion of the non-playing squad members dotted around the ground who all took time to chat to the supporters. A good move by Ulster Rugby and perhaps something they should consider more often despite the expense.
Making our way to the terrace shortly before kickoff, it took us a while to work out who was playing where as there were several changes to the starting line-up to that that had been previously reported. Finally worked out that Del-Fava was on for Caldwell, Humphreys on for O’Connor and Bossy on at full back with Clinton moved to the wing for Nagussa. Don’t know what prompted the changes but the decisions to play Carlo from the start and Bossy at full back were certainly correct as they were the stand out players for the first thirty minutes as Ulster took it to Connacht. Big Carlos was everywhere, rampaging like a wildebeest on the plains of South Africa, in what was easily his best performance for Ulster. He out “Ferrised” Ferris who appeared to be trying to run off a knock during the opening quarter. Bossy looked a class apart throughout the game with rock solid play under the high ball, astute kicking and a willingness to make a break when the opportunity arose. Bearing in mind the strong gusting wind it was an excellent display.
After thirty minutes Ulster looked to be cruising to a comfortable win with two Humphreys penalties and a well worked try finished off by Danielli, who covered a lot of ground looking for the ball. Unfortunately, after Carr broke down the wing to outpace the Ulster defence, the game plan and the confidence seemed to disappear as Connacht dominated the remaining fifty minutes. However, one thing Ulster have perfected this year is defending on the back foot and this time the missed kicks went their way and they managed to hold on for a win with Henry and a rejuvenated Ferris putting in a lot of work.
Back on the terrace the crack was good with our hosts as we commiserated with each other on disappointing seasons and we were delighted to be approached by Mike Reid who took the trouble to hand out several free cider tokens which were quickly cashed after the game. As always, the rest of the evening passed in a blur, but vaguely remember talking to Cillian Willis who confirmed he has signed for another two years.
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