Having been named in the starting line up Humphreys ran onto the Ravenhill pitch for the final match of his rugby career with 2 of his 3 young children in tow, to rapturous applause from the Ulster faithful.
The first try of the night came together for Cardiff after only 4 minutes of play with Cardiff flanker Maama Molitika breaking through the Ulster defence to clinch the early lead for the visitors. Nick Robinson added his 2 points with the conversion to make bring the score to Ulster 0 v Cardiff 7.
With almost 10 minutes on the clock, Humphreys, who has battled with an ankle injury all season began to limp and was forced to take to the bench with Paddy Wallace replacing him. The legendary fly half applauded the Ravenhill crowd as he left the pitch to a standing ovation; the supporters clearly delighted at the opportunity to show their appreciation for their hero for the final time.
It wasn’t long before Ulster responded to Cardiff’s early touchdown. Tommy Bowe made his mark on his final Ulster match and on the score sheet after only 10 minutes, scraping over the touchline for Ulster's first try of the night. Wallace was off target with the conversion to leave the score Ulster 5 v Cardiff 7.
Much of the rest of the second half was spent deep into the Ulster 22. Cardiff produced frequent and consistent scoring opportunities but Ulster’s defence remained solid throughout and denied the visitors at every attempt. It was a long kick from the boot of Paddy Wallace, deep into injury time in the first half, that eventually found Simon Danielli who was seemingly unstoppable as he stormed past 3 Cardiff tackles to touch down in the 43rd minute. Wallace stepped up to convert and to put the Ulstermen in the lead as the half time whistle blew.
Half time score Ulster 12 v Cardiff 7
Cardiff continued their fast paced play after the restart with tries from Roger Davies and James Down within the first 10 minutes of the second half. Leigh Halfpenny added 2 of his possible 4 points to the scoreboard as Cardiff regained their lead- Ulster 12 v Cardiff 19.
Again, Ulster attacked heavily and held onto possession as they surged into the Cardiff 22. They were rewarded in the 65th minute with Paddy Wallace finding the gap to touchdown but the number 10 failed to convert to bring the two sides level.
As Ulster battled for points to clinch the victory, the deciding try came, again from Cardiff’s Maama Molitika in the dying minutes of play, Leigh Halfpenny added the points from his conversion to seal his sides' away win.
Final Score- Ulster 17 v Cardiff 26.
Ulster: 15. Mark Bartholomeusz 14. Tommy Bowe 13. Andrew Trimble 12. Rob Dewey 11. Simon Danielli 10. David Humphreys 9. Isaac Boss 1. Bryan Young 2. Rory Best 3. Tom Court 4. Justin Harrison 5. Ryan Caldwell 6. Stephen Ferris 7. David Pollock 8. Roger Wilson
Replacements: 16. Nigel Brady 17. Justin Fitzpatrick 18. Matt McCullough 19. Neil Best 20. Paul Marshall 21. Paddy Wallace 22. Niall O'Connor
Cardiff Blues: 15. Nick Macleod 14. Roger Davies 13. Marc Stcherbina 12. Dafydd Hewitt 11. Leigh Halfpenny 10. Nick Robinson 9. Richie Rees 1. Taufa'ao Filise 2. Gareth Williams 3. Gary Powell 4. Bradley Davies 5. Scott Morgan 6. Maama Molitika 7. Ben White 8. Xavier Rush
Replacements: 16. John Yapp 17. T.Rhys Thomas 18. James Down 19. Mark Lewis 20. Rhys Shellard 21. Jason Spice 22. David Flanagan
