Ulster went top of European Champions Cup Pool Three with a deserved 18-13 victory over a tepid Clermont Auvergne.

A Jordi Murphy try and eight points from the boot of John Cooney put the hosts 10 points ahead at the break, Greig Laidlaw replying with a penalty.

Cooney's wonderful individual score on 63 minutes gave Ulster the breathing space they both craved and deserved as Clermont failed to impose themselves.

A penalty try with eight minutes left earned Clermont Auvergne a bonus point.

It was a consolation point the French Top 14 side scarcely deserved as they produced an error-strewn display.

Billed as Ulster's most challenging home fixture of the pool stage, the home side's margin of victory was not reflective of the comfort with which they secured four points against a side who have blown hot and cold so far this season.

The Irish province will go into their double header with Harlequins before Christmas knowing that a repeat of their opening two European performances will see them well-placed for a quarter-final berth for the second season in succession.

Hosts control tricky encounter

In the swirling wind and rain at the Kingspan Stadium, handling errors scuppered both sides in the first 40 minutes with Ulster knocking on six times.

However despite throwing away several good field positions, notably when both Cooney and Murphy spilled forward inside the Clermont 22, Ulster never found themselves under sustained pressure during a first half in which Clermont barely threw a punch.

The breakthrough came after 18 minutes when a Marcell Coetzee turnover and a pinpoint kick to touch from Cooney sent Ulster deep into opposition territory.

A rolling maul was set from the line-out allowing Murphy to touch down as Clermont's efforts to hold their opponents up fell short.

Only some excellent scrambling defence stopped the hosts extending their lead eight minutes later as Luke Marshall was bundled into touch when headed towards the line having collected Jacob Stockdale's off-load.

While not tested for any great length of time, Ulster's defence largely stood up to the challenge put forward, with Will Addison delivering a thundering hit to force a knock-on from lock Paul Jedrasiak as Clermont sought to make use of their numerical advantage on the left wing.

Clermont continue season of inconsistency

A seven-try demolition of Harlequins last weekend suggested that while Clermont's Top 14 form has done little to inspire confidence that they can go deep in this season's Champions Cup, they remain a side capable of producing performances to challenge any side in the competition.

However on the evidence of Friday's display, Clermont's ability to put together world class performances on a regular basis will prove their undoing in the tournament even if they were to advance beyond a very competitive Pool Three.

The decision to change the half-back pairing from last week's duo of Morgan Parra and Camille Lopez in favour of Greig Laidlaw and Jake McIntyre certainly did not pay off, with McIntyre in particular completely ineffective in dictating any kind of tempo.

After an error-strewn first half, the three-time Champions Cup finalists continued to create their own problems after the break, with Isaia Toeava missing touch by some distance with a penalty that would have moved Clermont into an excellent position.

Cooney's moment of magic

Laidlaw did land another kick to keep Clermont in the game as it entered its final quarter, but Cooney's brilliance stretched Ulster's lead to 12 with less than 20 minutes remaining.

Spotting a gap on the blindside, Cooney darted through before chipping over the top of Alivereti Raka and gathering to touch down beyond the try-line.

The score was met with an air of relief that rippled around the Kingspan Stadium as the home fans realised that the storm they were waiting for might never arrive.

While perhaps not a storm, Clermont did at least fight back to force a tense finish as referee JP Doyle ran under the posts to award a penalty try after Ulster failed to keep their scrum up after several attempts as the visitors sought to claw their way back.

However, despite enjoying more possession than they had done in the previous 70 minutes, the visitors were unable to drive into Ulster's 22 to set-up one last attempt that could have seen them snatch an unlikely victory.

Ulster: Addison, Ludik, Marshall, McCloskey, Stockdale, Burns, Cooney; O'Sullivan, Herring, Moore, O'Connor, Henderson, Reidy, Murphy, Coetzee.

Replacements: McBurney, McCall, O'Toole, Treadwell, Timoney, Shanahan, Johnston, Gilroy.

Clermont Auvergne: Abendanon, Betham, Toeava, Moala, Raka, McIntyre, Laidlaw; Falgoux, Ulugia, Slimani, Jedrasiak, Timani, Yato, Iturria, Lee.

Replacements: Tadjer, Uhila, Ziraksahivili, Lanen, Dessaigne, Parra, Lopez, Naqalevu.