Cheetahs rue missed chances in Ulster loss

The Toyota Cheetahs struggles against Irish clubs continued as they went down 20-10 to Ulster in their PRO14 match in Belfast on Saturday night.

The Cheetahs have now not recorded a win against an Irish side in nine games, and will be kicking themselves for the amount of spilt chances they had during the game.

Captain Ruan Pienaar returned to the club that he called home for so many years and received a standing ovation coming off the pitch, but his team were nowhere near as lucky as they fluffed several chances in good attacking positions, and watched as their lineout fell apart in the opposition 22.

Springbok flanker Marcel Coetzee was a constant thorn in the Cheetahs side and could easily have been named the man of the match as he underlined his class for his Irish side.

And while the game was played in wet conditions, the Cheetahs had more than enough ball and opportunities to make more of their position.

The Cheetahs also lost ground on the teams above them, with Glasgow Warriors moving above them into third while Ulster and Leinster continued to march on as well. The Cheetahs will be hoping to use a long home run in the next few months to make sure of a playoff place.

The home side scored early when Tommy O’Toole went over from close range and before the end of the half saw Bill Johnson add a penalty to put them into double figures. Ruan Pienaar added a penalty late in the half to send his side into the sheds 10-3 down.

The Ulstermen struck early in the second half with a beautiful cross-kick from Johnson to find Robert Baloucoune in the corner and give the home side a 14 point lead.

Johnson extended the lead with a penalty before Sintu Manjezi finally sparked something for the visitors, intercepting a ball and running 20 metres, then watching the recycled ball find its way to Clayton Blommetjies to score.

While there was some spark of a chance to haul the home side in, the Cheetahs couldn’t find enough penetration in the last 15 minutes and were forced to settle for another disappointing loss.

SCORERS

ULSTER – tries: Tommy O’Toole, Robert Baloucoune. Conversions: Bill Johnson (2). Penalties: Johnson (2).

TOYOTA CHEETAHS- try: Clayton Blommetjies. Conversion: Ruan Pienaar. Penalty: Pienaar.