Cooney leads the way against Glasgow as six-try Ulster make it five wins from five

John Cooney led the way for Ulster with 15 points as they secured a 40-15 PRO 14 bonus-point win over Glasgow Warriors. The result saw the Irish province maintain their 100 per cent start to the season with five wins from five in a contest which saw them run in six tries.

Ulster wrapped up the bonus point by half-time after tries from John Andrew, Marcell Coetzee, Sam Carter and John Cooney. Sean Reidy and Matt Faddes then dotted down after the restart. Cooney also kicked five conversions from six attempts.

Glasgow, who have won one in five games, scored tries in either half, the first from TJ Ioane and then a late effort from Grant Stewart.

The Warriors stung Ulster early on with flanker Ioane getting over the Ulster line as the visitors started with venom, George Horne converting the fourth-minute try. Ulster scored next through Andrew after a penalty had been put into the corner and the home side mauled over.

Cooney added the two points to tie things up after eleven minutes. Horne, though, was next to strike after Andrew conceded a breakdown penalty on 20 minutes, the Warriors fly-half hitting the target to nudge his side ahead again.

The Glasgow lead only lasted four minutes as after Robbie Fergusson was penalised for being offside, Ulster opted for the corner rather than the posts and, from the lineout, Coetzee powered over under the posts with help from Marty Moore and Kieran Treadwell.

Cooney slotted the straightforward conversion and Ulster led 14-10. Ioane then burst through after the restart but was hauled down short of the line by a combination of Michael Lowry and Coetzee. The Warriors came close again when Sean Kennedy tapped and ran a penalty but was tackled short by Andrew and Lowry with the full-back winning a critical jackal penalty.

Four minutes before the break, Ulster had their third score and just after Carter had a score ruled out, he drove over from the following scrum after a Coetzee drive. Cooney made it three conversions from three and Ulster now led 21-10.

The bonus-point try was scored with the clock in the red. With Nikola Matawalu in the bin for a deliberate knock-on, Cooney dived over after Ian Madigan had been held short. The Ulster scrum-half converted again to give the Irish province a 28-10 half-time lead.

Nine minutes after the restart, and just as the Warriors got Matawalu back on, Ulster had their fifth score when Lowry’s run helped set up Reidy who slid over in the corner.

The difficult conversion was missed by Cooney but Ulster now led 33-10 and he brought up the 40-point mark following try number six after Faddes hacked through. Then with Lowry shown yellow for a deliberate knock-on, Stewart drove over though Horne missed the conversion.