Jackson stays cool to send Ulster top

They came from behind to edge past Newport Gwent Dragons 17-15 at the Kingspan Stadium.

The Dragons had not won in Belfast since September 2008 but a lightning start saw them go 10-0 up as Adam Hughes dotted down Carl Meyer's grubber kick although Sean Reidy's try narrowed the deficit to 10-7 at the break.

Meyer then got a score of his own early in the second half to extend the Dragons' lead before a penalty try trimmed the gap to one and Jackson nailed a tricky penalty two minutes from time to give Ulster a dramatic victory.

The Welsh side looked like a constant danger on the counter attack, while defending manfully throughout, and will consider themselves unlucky to have left with only a losing bonus point.

Ulster may have been favourites heading into the match but it was the Dragons who started the stronger, going through the phases before Angus O'Brien slotted a fourth-minute penalty following a scrum infringement.

That seemed to spark the hosts into life as they began to turn the screw but, to their credit, the Dragons defence held firm.

And a scything counter-attack deservedly saw them extend their lead to 10-0 as slick handling led to full-back Meyer stabbing a perfectly-weighted kick into the corner which Hughes expertly collected before sliding over – O'Brien nailing the touchline conversion.

After the breakaway score, Ulster resumed their assault on the visitors' 22, being held up over the line on one occasion before a try in the corner got them back in the match.

With 24 minutes gone they spread the ball wide and flanker Reidy broke a tackle down the left and held off O'Brien to charge over for his third score in as many games, Ian Humphreys adding the conversion.

With time ticking down in the first period, Ulster looked more likely to get the second score their attacking intent probably deserved but a lack of precision cost them as they went into the dressing room 10-7 behind.

Dragons started the second half in the same way as the first and notched their second try on 47 minutes to silence the Kingspan Stadium crowd.

Meyer picked a great line through the defence and collected a perfectly-timed pass to touch down although O'Brien failed to add the extras.

Sensing a golden opportunity to secure a first Pro12 away win since victory over Treviso last March, the Welsh outfit needed to hold firm after their score but instead Ulster soon moved within a point.

A five-metre line-out saw Les Kiss' troops set up an inexorable driving maul – with Reidy controlling the ball at the back – and when Matthew Screech pulled it down, referee Nigel Owens awarded the penalty try.

Screech was sin-binned for his infringement and Ulster almost took advantage but O'Brien just beat Craig Gilroy to a cross-field kick which landed over the Dragons line.

Exeter Chiefs loan player  Ben White then saw yellow for a high tackle to reduce the visitors to 13 men and his side looked to have paid the price as Ulster battered at the opposition line for phase after phase before No.8 Roger Wilson crashed over.

But the TMO ruled there had been a knock-on during the build-up and when a long-range Jackson penalty hit the crossbar with eight minutes remaining, it began to look as if it wasn't their night.

They continued to press and probe in the final stages to try and over-turn their 15-14 deficit and Jackson's long-range 78th-minute penalty put them ahead for the first time in the game.

And they saw out the remaining seconds to escape with a victory and move top of the Pro12 table.

The scorers:

For Ulster:

Tries: Reidy, Penalty

Cons: Humphreys, Jackson

Pen: Jackson

For Newport Gwent Dragons:

Tries: Hughes, Meyer

Con: O'Brien

Pen: O'Brien

Yellow cards: Matthew Screech (Newport Gwent Dragons, 52), Ben White (Newport Gwent Dragons, 56)

Teams:

Ulster: 15 Louis Ludik, 14 Craig Gilroy, 13 Darren Cave, 12 Stuart Olding, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Ian Humphreys, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Roger Wilson, 7 Sean Reidy, 6 Robbie Diack, 5 Peter Browne, 4 Alan O'Connor, 3 Ricky Lutton, 2 Rob Herring (captain), 1 Callum Black.

Replacements: 16 John Andrew, 17 Kyle McCall, 18 Bronson Ross, 19 Clive Ross, 20 Nick Williams, 21 Paul Marshall, 22 Paddy Jackson, 23 Rory Scholes.

Newport Gwent Dragons: 15 Carl Meyer, 14 Ashton Hewitt, 13 Adam Hughes, 12 Adam Warren, 11 Hallam Amos, 10 Angus O'Brien, 9 Charlie Davies, 8 Ed Jackson, 7 Nic Cudd, 6 Ben White, 5 Rynard Landman (captain), 4 Matthew Screech, 3 Brok Harris, 2 Elliot Dee, 1 Phil Price.

Replacements: 16 Rhys Buckley, 17 Boris Stankovich, 18 Shaun Knight, 19 Cory Hill, 20 James Benjamin, 21 Sarel Pretorius, 22 Geraint Rhys Jones, 23 Nick Scott.

Referee: Nigel Owens

Assistant referees: Nigel Correll, Shane Kierans

TMO: Kevin Beggs

Source: @PRO12rugby