Clermont Auvergne overcame a tough challenge from Ulster to secure a 19-15 win in Pool 4 of the Heineken Cup on Saturday evening.
The result, and those elsewhere, means that both sides will play in the last eight of the competition, but Ulster now have to overcome a certain away draw in the quarter-finals.
The game started at quite a pace, with both sides looking to get themselves on the scoreboard as early as possible. It was Clermont who took the lead thanks to a converted penalty from Morgan Parra after Dan Tuohy was sent to the sinbin for Ulster.
Despite being a man down however, it didn’t take the visitors long to respond, with Ruan Pienaar calmly slotting the ball between the posts from a penalty. Clermont didn’t take long to restore their three point lead however thanks to another converted penalty effort from Parra.
Ulster levelled the score in the thirty third minute after Pienaar converted another penalty after a spell of pressure from the visitors.
Ulster continued to look like the more dominant side, but were almost caught out towards the end of the half after some excellent play from Julien Malzieu almost saw the home side break through the Ulster defence, but the visitors held firm and both sides went into the break with six points each.
The second half started with the same intensity as the first, with both sides scoring early penalties to keep the scores level at 9-9.
Ulster took the lead again thanks to another penalty from Pienaar, but almost found themselves trailing after some scrappy play in front of their try line almost presented the hosts with a try, but Ulster were awarded a penalty after Pedrie Wannenburg was fouled by Nathan Hines and were able to clear their lines.
However, Clermont attacked again, and substitute Ti’i Paulo was able to ram his way across the line from short range to give Clermont a lead of two points, which Parra was able to add to after converting the try with another flawless kick.
Ulster were far from beaten though, and narrowed the margin to just one point after Pienaar converted yet another penalty in the seventy first minute.
Clermont were not finished though, and Parra secured the win for the hosts with another converted penalty in the seventy fifth minute, again restoring a four point gap. Ulster piled the pressure on in the last few minutes but were unable to break through the stubborn Clermont defence, which held on to secure victory for the French side.