The boot of Johnny McPhillps was the difference between the teams when Ulster A entertained Cardiff Blues Premiership Select at Ballymena RFC on Friday evening. 

The result, coupled with a defeat by the group pacesetters London Scottish, sees Ulster A at the top of Pool 1, but with three fixtures still to play in this tight group there are likely to be plenty of twists and turns to come. 

Ulster opened the scoring at Eaton Park through a McPhillips penalty but the Blues hit back when winger Kyle Evans stepped inside the slow Ulster defence to score under the posts for a converted try to give the visitors a 3 – 7 lead. 

Ulster upped the pressure to record two further penalties from McPhillips and the penalty count told with Blues scrum half Pete Cowley received his marching orders with his second yellow card becoming red just before the break. 

Despite being a man up Ulster struggled to take advantage, and the Blues took the lead with a Thompson penalty after the restart pushing the score to 9 – 10. 

The breakthrough finally came on the hour mark when a clever pass from Rob Lyttle sent Jack Owens through to beat the rover defence and score out wide. McPhillips added the extras and Ulster held on to record their second win in the competition. 

Final Score: Ulster A 16 Cardiff Blues PS 10.

Ulster A: Jonny McPhillips, Rob Lyttle, Rory Butler, Mark Best, Jack Owens, Brett Herron, Dave Shanahan, Callum Black, John Andrew, Jonny Simpson, Connor Smyth, Stephen Mulholland, Nick Timoney, Conor Joyce, Lorcan Dow. Replacements: Jonny Murphy, Tom O’Hagan, John McCusker, Zack McCall, Jonny Stewart, David Busby, Callum Patterson.

Current Standings

TEAM	PL	W	PD	BP	PTS
Ulster A	3	2	14	2	10
London Scottish	3	2	1	2	10
Jersey	3	2	(33)	1	9
Cardiff Blues PS	3	0	(48)	2	2