Humphreys the hero for Ulster

A stern defensive effort helped contain the likes of Morgan Parra

Ian Humphreys scored all of Ulster's points as the Irish outfit began their Heineken Cup campaign with a hard fought 16-11 win over Clermont Auvergne.

The fly-half was successful with four kicks and scored a crucial second-half try as the hosts turned the tables after trailing for the vast majority of the contest at Ravenhill.

A Clermont side packed with international quality could only muster an early try through Seru Noa Nakaitaci and two penalties via the boot of David Skrela, but did secure a losing bonus point.

The Top 14 high-flyers showed glimpses of quality, especially in the first half, but were made to pay for wasteful kicking displays from Morgan Parra and Brock James.

Clermont were awarded their first penalty inside the first minute but France star Parra sliced his attempt wide of the posts, although the French side were soon surging forward again.

They were rewarded in the seventh minute as Wales full-back Lee Byrne broke through the line before playing in Nakaitaci to provide the finish, with Parra again off target with the conversion.

Ulster cut their deficit to just two points when fly-half Ian Humphreys slotted over a penalty but Skrela, taking the Clermont kicking duties over from Parra, made it 8-3 after the hosts were penalised for coming into a ruck from the side.

Possession

Ulster did begin to hit their stride at the midway point of the half and enjoyed a lengthy period of possession just before the half-hour mark, but the Clermont defence stood firm.

The half seemed to be heading towards a scrappy and uneventful end before Skrela knocked over a penalty to make it 11-3 after the home side infringed at the breakdown.

But Ulster cancelled that out from the restart as Clermont were similarly penalised, leaving Humphreys to knock over an easy kick and make it 11-6 at the interval.

Humphreys had the chance to close the gap even further early in the second half but the left-footer hooked a penalty wide after Clermont had collapsed a scrum.

Ulster were controlling the tempo of the match, though, and their fly-half made no mistake with a much easier attempt as Skrela failed to roll away after a tackle.

Replacement Clermont fly-half James then badly fluffed a long-range penalty attempt as the French outfit looked in no danger of adding to their points tally.

And Ulster finally made the breakthrough when Adam D'Arcy made the decisive burst down the left before handing inside to Humphreys, who converted his own try from way out wide.

James' miserable afternoon continued when he missed a penalty from in front of the posts, albeit from long range, and Ulster saw out the final few minutes to hold on to the win.