The match was only seconds old when play was suspended for a good five minutes to allow the Ulster medical staff to attend to a serious-looking injury to Paddy Wallace, who was subsequently stretchered off and replaced by Paul Steinmetz. A ferocious tackle from Brendon Botha soon after the restart put paid to an early Connacht foray down the wing and gave Ulster the impetus, with a Steinmetz raid bringing them close to the first points of the evening.

These were scored a minute later, though, when Ian Humphreys slotted away a simple penalty. This came after a dangerous tackle had taken out Steinmetz before he could receive the ball in front of the posts. The score opened at Ulster 3 Connacht 0 after seven minutes of play.

There was even better to come four minutes later when Stephen Ferris, returning from an inpressive international stint with the Ireland team, seized a loose ball surrendered by the Connacht defence and powered over the line. Humphreys's conversion put the score at 10-0.

Connacht fly half Ian Keatley reduced the gap on 16 minutes with a well-taken penalty, but indecisive defending three minutes later again lost the visitors possession deep within their half. Unfortunately for Connacht, the ball fell to last month's Munster-slayer, Timoci Nagusa, who darted over to continue his impressive try-scoring record in inter-provincial matches. The conversion from Humphreys made it 17-3 after 20 minutes.

Keatley was then unfortunate to strike the crossbar with a long-distance penalty on 24 minutes. The next 10 minutes saw play contained in the middle of the park until an errant pass - from Ulster this time - allowed Connacht in, left-winger Fionn Carr finally grounding a try which Keatley converted to set the score at 17-10. A final first-half penalty from Humphreys then put Ulster 10 points ahead once again.

Half-time score Ulster 20 Connacht 10

An excellent penalty from Keatley three minutes after the restart chalked up the first points of the second half and put the score at 20-13, the fly-half's kicking making up partly for his handling errors in the first half.

Then, on 46 minutes, a great right-wing raid from Darren Cave, stubbed out just three metres from the try-line, served as a statement of Ulster's intent for the second half. The Ravenhill faithful did not have long to wait to see this come to fruition, as good line-out ball on 53 minutes led to the third Ulster try of the evening, grounded by a returning Simon Danielli. Humphreys's conversion cemented the lead at 27-13.

Ulster were now in complete control and, after coming frustratingly close to scoring on both wings thanks to patient and accurate build-up play, extended their lead further with a Mark McCrea try and Humphreys conversion. At 34-13 Ulster had stamped their authority on the match and earned a well-deserved bonus point.

With the game now over as a contest, Connacht appeared to have given up hope and more careless passing in midfield on 70 minutes gifted the ball to Danielli, who was able to sprint to the line virtually unopposed to score his second try of his comeback game. Humphreys's inch-perfect conversion put the score at 41-13.

It all began to get a little embarrassing for Connacht on 75 minutes when Isaac Boss broke through with ease and fed Darren Cave for Ulster's sixth try of the night. Humphreys capped an excellent night's work with a pinpoint conversion, and, much to Connacht's chagrin, was called into action four minutes later once Bryn Cunningham had touched down for try number seven. Humphreys's final conversion attempt missed the target but it was of no consequence as referee Peter Fitzgibbon put an end to the tie - much to the visitors' relief.

Full-Time score Ulster 53 Connacht 13

Ulster Team: 15 Bryn Cunningham; 14 Timoci Nagusa; 13 Darren Cave; 12 Paddy Wallace; 11 Mark McCrea; 10 Ian Humphreys; 9 Cillian Willis; 1 Justin Fitzpatrick; 2 Rory Best (Capt); 3 Brendan Botha; 4 Ed O'Donoghue; 5 Ryan Caldwell; 6 Stephen Ferris; 7 David Pollock; 8 Robbie Diack.

Replacements: 16 Nigel Brady; 17 Tom Court; 18 Matt McCullough; 19 Kieron Dawson; 20 Isaac Boss; 21 Paul Steinmetz; 22 Simon Danielli.

Connacht Team: 15 Gavin Duffy (Capt); 14 Troy Nathan; 13 Mel Deane; 12 Keith Matthews; 11 Fionn Carr; 10 Ian Keatley; 9 Frank Murphy; 1 Brett Wilkinson; 2 Sean Cronin; 3 Robbie Morris; 4 Michael McCarthy; 5 Andrew Farley; 6 Ray Ofisa; 7 John O'Connor; 8 Colm Rigney

Replacements: 16 Adrian Flavin; 17 Ronan Loughney; 18 Andrew Browne; 19 Michael Swift; 20 Kieran Campbell; 21 Tim Donnelly; 22 John Hearty