|
Ulster kept their Champions Cup hopes alive by the narrowest of margins by registering a vital first win to see off Exeter, whose own European ambitions now look all but over in Pool Five.In a tense and scrappy encounter which only saw one try, scored by Ulsters Sean Reidy in the first half, the game ended with a dramatic drop goal shoot-out between Paddy Jackson and Exeters Ulsterman Gareth Steenson in the closing minutes.Steenson first put the Chiefs two points in front with four minutes to go only for Jackson to hit back immediately with a drop goal of his own to put Ulster 19-18 ahead. The game then finished with Steenson going for another drop to snatch the win, but his effort went wide and the Chiefs were left with their losing bonus point.Les Kiss men made off with four points, though, thanks to Reidys try, three penalties, a conversion and that late drop goal from Jackson after the home side had led 10-6 at the break, with Charles Piutau having created the touchdown with a rare moment of creativity in the game.All the Chiefs points came from Steensons boot thanks to his drop goal and five earlier penalties, though the result leaves them bottom of Pool Five with Ulster in third and six points behind leaders Clermont.Exeter kicked off after a minutes silence in memory of Anthony Foley was observed, with the supporters own tribute then following with a rendition of the Fields of Athenry.And it was Ulster who struck first when the Chiefs strayed offside, although Jacksons fourth-minute penalty which was equalised two minutes later by Steenson after Reidy had been caught offside.But Ulster came again with a great attack which swung right, left and right again only for the Chiefs to be nailed for offside again just as Franco van der Merwe lost the ball on the line.Jackson hit the corner and then opted to do so again after the Chiefs were offside at the lineout. The home side secured another penalty after Jacksons chip for Luke Marshall was called back.Yet again, Ulster went for the corner and the lineout maul only for Rodney Ah You to knock on and the Chiefs relieved the pressure.Exeter then spent some time in Ulster territory which yielded them two scrum penalties and a third when the home side were punished for being offside at a ruck, which saw Steenson slot a great penalty from out on the right after 28 minutes.Then out of nothing, Piutaus hitch-kick out on the right saw him beat three defenders before Reidy followed up to drive over the line. Jacksons conversion made it 10-6 to Ulster, which is how the half finished despite Exeter ending the stronger.Piutau helped win Ulster an early penalty after the restart but after going for the corner, the home sides maul was driven into touch.However, from their next kickable effort, Jackson put the ball between the posts from long range to extend their lead to 13-6. That was cut to 13-9 on 51 minutes from Steensons third penalty of the night before Jackson missed with a 62nd-minute effort from out on the right shortly.The Chiefs then made it a one-point game in the 66th minute after a great break from Olly Woodburn into Ulsters 22 resulted in Steensons fourth penalty.The scrappy nature of the game continued but when the Chiefs were pinged at a ruck Jackson gladly took the points in the 70th minute to put Ulster 16-12 in front.But back came Exeter and when sub Rob Herring went off his feet, Steenson made closed the gap again with his 73rd-minute strike, and then he nudged the Chiefs in front with a well-taken drop goal in the 76th minute.Stung into action, Ulster surged upfield and Jackson then put them a point in front with his own drop goal. With two minutes on the clock, Steenson tried again but this time his drop sailed just wide and Ulster held on. . Scott Kazmir allowed four hits in seven shutout innings, Michael Brantley hit a two-run homer in a three-run first inning and the Indians maintained their hold on an AL wild-card spot with a 4-1 win over the Houston Astros on Saturday night. . Rob Manfred, baseballs chief operating officer, testified last week during the grievance filed by the players union to overturn Rodriguezs 211-game suspension. A person familiar with the hearing, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Associated Press on Saturday that Manfred testified the sport wasnt concerned whether Bosch distributed performance-enhancing drugs to minors because MLBs interest was his relationship with players under investigation. . Newcastle dominated in the early stages but City weathered the storm and then raised its game in extra time. Negredo broke the deadlock from close range after a simple move in the 99th minute before Dzeko took the ball round goalkeeper Tim Krul to seal the victory in the 105th. . -- Canadian Andrew Wiggins got the ball on the wing, made a nifty spin move and then let go with a soft floater from about 10 feet that swished through the net in Allen Fieldhouse. .Y. -- Sabres defenceman Tyler Myers had no intention of changing his hard-hitting style before taking part in a disciplinary hearing for his illegal check to New Jersey forward Dainius Zubrus head.MIAMI -- Marcell Ozuna has given the Miami Marlins big hits and some hope for the future. The 22-year-old rookie outfielder drove in two runs to help the Marlins to a 4-2 win over the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday night in interleague play. "Hes put together a lot of great at-bats, big at-bats, and he did again tonight," Marlins manager Mike Redmond said. Ozuna is hitting .438 (21 for 48) with runners in scoring position, driving in 22 runs for the last-place Marlins. "Just going to home plate and thinking, see the ball up a little bit and if its in the middle, swing or if its away and up, swing no matter what," Ozuna said. Derek Dietrich also provided some offence with a home run for the Marlins, who have won four of five. A.J. Ramos (2-2) pitched two scoreless innings in relief and Steve Cishek worked the ninth for his 13th save. Minnesota dropped its third game in the last four. "It wasnt our night," Twins manager Rod Gardenhire said. "We left some pitches up in the zone late. Every time we did, they seemed to whack it. We also made three errors. You dont win too many games when you make three errors whether it costs you runs or not." Miami starter Jose Fernandez allowed one run and four hits in five innings. The 20-year-old phenom struck out three and walked three while throwing 94 pitches, 59 for strikes. "He kept us in it," Redmond said. "You think about a young kid who didnt really have his best stuff, but still was pretty impressive out there and made pitches when he absolutely needed to. Thats the kind of guy he is." Fernandez is 2-1 with a 1.67 ERA in five June starts. "I wanted to keep pitching, but my stuff wasnt there today and I agree with the decision," Fernandez said. Minnesotas Justin Morneau appeared to line into a double play to end the eighth, but first baseman Logan Morrison dropped the throw, allowing Joe Mauer to remain on base. Two batters later, Trevor Plouffe took advantage of Morrisons error with an RBI single, scoring Mauer to cut the deficit to 3-2. Ozunas RBI double in the bottom oof the eighth after Morrison doubled pushed the lead to 4-2.dddddddddddd "Im really proud of (Ozuna) and surprised hes doing so well especially driving in tough runs," Morrison said. Cishek retired the Twins in order in the ninth. Josh Willinghams RBI single in the third opened the scoring for Minnesota. Kevin Correia (6-5) held the Marlins scoreless through five innings before running into trouble in the sixth. After Ed Lucas singled and Giancarlo Stanton walked, Morrison singled to load the bases. Ozuna singled to centre, scoring Lucas as centre fielder Clete Thomas bobbled the ball, also allowing Stanton to score for a 2-1 lead. "I felt I made one bad pitch that inning and that was enough to give up a couple of runs," Correia said. Correia allowed two runs and five hits in six innings after beating the Marlins on April 23. Brian Duensing relieved Correia and yielded a home run to Dietrich, his seventh, for a 3-1 advantage. It was a rare home run as Duensing had not surrendered one in his previous 48 appearances and Dietrich was hitless in 17 at-bats before the homer. "He made a simple adjustment for that at-bat," Redmond said. "He couldnt find his elbow guard and I told him, Well, dont wear the elbow guard and he hit a home run. Then the next time he had the elbow guard on and I said, Take the elbow guard off and he still got out, but I think were headed in the right direction." NOTES: Morrison has five multi-hit games in 11 games since returning from the disabled list. ... Twins RHP Mike Pelfrey was placed on the 15-day disabled list Sunday retroactive to June 19, but Gardenhire believes the break will benefit Pelfrey, who missed last season with Tommy John surgery. "This is probably a good time of the season to take a step back, miss a couple of starts," Gardenhire said. "He told me hes probably 90 per cent right now, so believe me, he wont miss much work." ... Minnesota will send LHP Scott Diamond (5-6, 5.27 ERA) to the mound in the Wednesday afternoon finale against RHP Tom Koehler (1-5, 4.65 ERA). ' ' '
|
