Yorkshire Carnegie saved their best until last to make sure their first ‘On the road’ trip to Huddersfield YMCA had a positive outcome.

In the opening period, the men from Headingley looked low on confidence and struggling for inspiration, with the possibility of a British and Irish Cup defeat to Ulster Ravens very much on the cards.

But after the break, the Yorkshiremen were able to step up a gear and notched up three well-worked tries to take the game by the scruff of the neck and savour a 27-19 Laund Hill victory.

In the end it was a win Carnegie deserved, although there’s no doubt they didn’t help themselves early on.

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By the half-hour mark, the Ravens had eased into a 12-3 lead, with tries from wingers Jack Owens and Jacob Stockdale and conversion from Peter Nelson the least their efforts deserved.

In contrast, Carnegie were restricted to one solitary 27th-minute Harry Leonard penalty during what was only their second foray into the Ravens’ 22.

The outcome at that stage was as bleak as the freezing cold weather.

Matters did look as if they were about to improve when Josh Bainbridge peeled off from the base of a rolling maul to plunge over to make it 12-8 just before the break.

But when Ulster struck for a third time within two minutes of the restart with a close-range effort from Dave Ryan and Nelson added the extras, it seemed like it was back to square one.

Possibly the Ravens thought that, too.

Yet instead of pushing on, it was Carnegie who reacted more positively and for the rest of the contest were in almost complete control.

Yorkshire Carnegie: Georgiou; Goss, Vickerman, Lucock, Holmes; Leonard, Dudman; Harris, Graham, Hill, Hannay, Smith, Beck, Bainbridge, C Walker. Subs: J Walker, Imiolek, Beech, Casson, Ramshaw, Pilgrim, McIlwarne.

Ulster Ravens: Nelson; Owens, R Andrew, Arnold, Stockdale; Bingham, Heaney; Ryan, Jackson, Ross, Stevenson, McComb, Raaymakers, Reidy, Butterworth. Subs: J Andrew, McCall, Donnan, Joyce, Young, O’Hagan, Lidell.

Referee: Dan Jones (WRU).