IAN HUMPHREYS WAS Ulster’s hero after kicking all of his side’s points in their opening Heineken Cup Pool 4 win over Clermont Auvergne at Ravenhill on Saturday. It finished Ulster 16-11 Clermont.
The French side dominated all of the early exchanges, with Morgan Parra missing an easy penalty in just the second minute.
However, four minutes later they had the lead when Lee Byrne brushed off a tackle by Andrew Trimble and fed Noa Nakaitaci, who went over.
Parra missed the conversion but the visitors were clearly the better side, though Ulster bossed the scrum.
A Humphreys penalty reduced the arrears but Clermont stretched their lead through a David Skrela penalty. He had taken over from the misfiring Parra.
Wesley Fofana somehow denied a resurgent Ulster a quickfire try and Skrela stretched their lead again with the boot, only to see Humphreys make it 11-6 at the break.
Stephen Ferris was brilliant for Ulster in the second half with some dominant play, while Humphreys cut the deficit to only two points with a 51st minute penalty.
The game stuttered for the next 15 minutes but the introductions of Declan Fitzpatrick and Paddy McAllister boosted the home side, but it was another replacement that made the match winning try.
Adam D’Arcy produced a storming and delayed perfectly to set Humphreys – who held off Nakaitaci – in to score. The try-scorer made no mistake with the conversion and the match was won.
