Ulster 25 Harlequins 24

John Cooney kicked a nerveless, late penalty to give Ulster a dramatic Round 3 victory over Harlequins in a match that swung back and forth in front of an enthralled Belfast crowd.

The Ulster scrum-half consolidated the Irish province’s position at the top of Pool 3 with the second of his two penalties to crown a fabulous fightback from the home side, who had trailed 24-15 on the hour.

Cooney had opened the scoring on seven minutes with his first three-pointer, but Quins levelled with a ninth-minute penalty from Marcus Smith, who then converted a fine 24th-minute try from Alex Dombrandt, who broke two tackles before scoring near the posts.

After 31 minutes, though, Ulster hit back, with Billy Burns executing a superb crossfield kick to Stuart McCloskey, who handed a lovely offload inside to Sean Reidy and he dived over the line. Cooney’s conversion levelled matters at 10-10 and that was the interval scoreline.

Ulster continued their fine work on the resumption, needing only three minutes to regain the lead as they worked the ball left to McCloskey, who barged past the final Harlequins defender and dived over in the corner.

Next, however, it was Harlequins’ turn to rally as they launched a driving maul on 56 minutes for Elia Elia to power over the line.

Smith converted and there was an action replay of the scorers three minutes later, when Dombrandt made a crucial interception on his own five-metre line, sprinted 60 metres clear and after a host of brilliant offloads, found Elia, who sauntered over the line.

Another driving maul – this time from Ulster – got the Irish province back into the match, though, after 66 minutes. The line-out set it up, with Adam McBurney touching down for a try that Cooney goaled to reduce the deficit to 22-24.

Then, as the clock passed 79 minutes, Tevita Cavubati inexplicably tackled the man without the ball, giving Cooney a chance to seal victory, which he duly took.

Harlequins host Ulster Rugby in the last 16 of the European Rugby Challenge Cup on April 4 and if their first meeting in Pool 3 of last season’s Heineken Champions Cup is anything to go by, it will be a classic.