Ulster have qualified for the Heineken Champions Cup quarter-finals after beating Bath 22-15 at the Kingspan Stadium.
The home side got off to a great start with Marcell Coetzee dotting down for the opening try after just seven minutes.
The big South African No. 8 peeled off the back of a lineout maul to crash over and John Cooney added the extras, making it 7-0 to Ulster.
However, Bath bounced back in the 20th minute with winger Ruaridh McConnochie scoring off the back of a crossfield kick from Freddie Burns.
That left it 7 a-piece and while Ulster were on top for the remainder of the half they were unable to add to their tally, leaving it all-square at half time.
It didn’t take long for the northern province to get up and running in the second half with Robert Baloucoune going over in the corner after 42 minutes.
Will Addison was instrumental in the try, throwing a dummy before sending the young winger over with a lovely one-hand pass.
Freddie Burns brought Bath back within four points through a penalty but the deficit was short-lived.
FULL-TIME | Tries from @marcell_coetzee , Robert Baloucoune and @WillAddisonB3 , 2 @JCooney09 conversions and a @BillyBurns10 penalty give Ulster the victory and send us to the @ChampionsCup quarter-finals! #ULSvBAT #SUFTUMLive pic.twitter.com/CfywmQ5MRF
— Ulster Rugby (@UlsterRugby) January 18, 2020
Addison went over for a try of his own only a minute after the Bath penalty Stuart McCloskey and Jacob Stockdale before putting the fullback in space to score.
Billy Burns missed the conversion attempt but Ulster led by nine points with just over 30 minutes to go.
Bath brought the deficit to four points with roughly 15 minutes ti go when Ross Batty powered over off the back of a lineout maul.
Kieran Treadwell looked to have scored the home side's fourth try only a few minutes later, but the TMO deemed that Cooney's pop pass off the ground waa forward.
Batty, who only minutes ago was Bath's hero, was shown a red card for a high tackle on Cooney, which saw the scrum-half substituted for David Shanahan.
Billy Burns scored from the resultant penalty, leaving it Ulster 22-15 Bath.
That's how it ended and while it was by no means perfect from Dan McFarland's men they do progress to the Champions Cup quarter-finals.
Everyone’s in the Team Of Us.
Vodafone. The Official Sponsor of the Irish Rugby Team.
Download the brand new OffTheBall App in the Play Store & App Store right now! We've got you covered!
Subscribe to OffTheBall's YouTube channel for more videos, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for the latest sporting news and content.
