Pro14: Ulster 36-15 Glasgow

John Cooney scored 16 points in the first half to take his tally for the season to 160 points in the Pro14

Ulster kept their slender Pro14 play-off hopes alive with a bonus-point victory against Glasgow Warriors.

Tries by John Cooney, Nick Timoney and Sean Reidy guaranteed a home Champions Cup play-off against Ospreys.

Glasgow, who have already qualified for the semi-finals, were held scoreless in the last quarter after captain Callum Gibbins had crossed for his second try.

Timoney's dramatic second try in stoppage time meant Ulster can still finish a disastrous campaign on a high.

Ulster must win their remaining match against Munster at Thomond Park on 28 April to have a chance of overhauling Conference B rivals Edinburgh, who will host Glasgow at Murrayfield on the final day of the regular season.

Warriors recovered from 10-0 down to draw level after a frenetic opening quarter but the Scottish side were left to rue a TMO decision to rule out a possible go-ahead score by Alex Dunbar.

Attacking ambition

Irish international Iain Henderson was a late withdrawal from the Ulster starting line-up following the birth of his daughter with Kieran Treadwell taking his place in the second-row but the home side were not distracted by the absence of their captain as they showed attacking intent from the start and were rewarded with a straight-forward penalty for Cooney inside the opening five minutes.

The scrum-half was back on the scoreboard shortly afterwards when he showed good turn of pace from the back of a five metre scrum to score the game's opening try with alarming ease.

A penalty for Finn Russell finally got the visitors off the mark and Warriors were level shortly afterwards when Fraser Brown burst through weak tackles by Ross Kane and Timoney before slipping a pass to supporting Gibbins to score under the posts.

Glasgow thought they had taken the lead in the 26th minute when Alex Dunbar ran over Johnny McPhillips and stretched for the line but the TMO felt he was millimetres short of a score.

Ulster responded with two Cooney penalties - one coming with the clock in the red after Russell had kicked directly into touch from a restart - to hold a six-point lead at the break.

Sustained pressure

The influential Cooney was replaced at half time by veteran Paul Marshall, who will retire at the end of the season, and Ulster appeared to concede the momentum from the restart.

Instead, the Warriors moved back to within a point of their hosts when Gibbins was well-placed at the back of a solid lineout maul that rumbled relentlessly over the line.

Russell's attempted conversion came back off the post and it proved to be Glasgow's final chance to take the lead.

Ulster regained their composure as Jacob Stockdale came in off his wing to attack the gain line before shipping a pass to Stuart McCloskey and the centre's clever off load allowed Timoney to dive over for a decisive score.

Reidy was next to score after another McCloskey break resulted in a period of sustained pressure before the flanker forced his way through the despairing tackles.

As the sun started to fade in Belfast, the introduction of Tommy Bowe, who will also end his Ulster career this summer, helped to raise the tempo inside the ground and the winger was instrumental in setting up the final attack as the clock turned red.

A thunderous tackle by Bowe forced a turnover and Ulster pounced on their opportunity to score the bonus-point try.

The hosts showed admirable patience before working the space for Timoney to score in the right corner, with Bowe making the final pass to free-up the flanker.

Teams

Ulster: C Piutau; L Ludik, L Marshall (T Bowe, 69), S McCloskey, J Stockdale; J McPhillips (A Curtis, 72), J Cooney (P Marshall, 40); A Warwick (K McCall, 54), R Herring (capt) (R Best, 61), R Kane (T O'Toole, 61); A O'Connor (R Diack, 78), K Treadwell; N Timoney, S Reidy, J Deysel (C Ross, 16)

Replacements: R Best, K McCall, T O'Toole, R Diack, C Ross, P Marshall, A Curtis, T Bowe

Glasgow Warriors: S Hogg; T Seymour, H Jones (N Grigg, 30), A Dunbar (P Horne, 67), L Masaga; F Russell, A Price (H Prygos, 62); A Allan (R Grant, 67), F Brown (G Turner, 67), S Halanukonuka (Z Fagerson, 41); S Cummings (G Peterson, 62), T Swinson; R Harley (M Smith, 67), C Gibbins (capt), M Fagerson

Replacements: G Turner, R Grant, Z Fagerson, G Peterson, M Smith, H Prygos, P Horne, N Grigg