Ulster finish with a flourish
Ulster ran in six tries as they secured eighth place in the Magners League with a bonus-point win in their final game.
Last Updated: 07/05/10 9:52pm
Ulster ran in six tries as they secured eighth place in the Magners League with a bonus-point win in their final game.
Tries from Simon Danielli, Ian Humphreys, Andi Kyriacou, Ian Whitten, Dan Tuohy and Jamie Smith ensured perennial strugglers Connacht finished bottom of the standings once again.
Connacht outside-half Ian Keatley opened the scoring with an early penalty and the visitors stayed in the lead for the opening 20 minutes after Humphreys missed a straightforward penalty.
Ulster, though, grabbed the lead after winger Danielli somehow got on the end of his own kick through. Humphreys was unable to convert.
The Ulster outside-half made amends for his early miss with the boot when he got on the end of a charge-down off Keatley and stepped inside the scrambling Connacht defence to dot down at the posts, then managed to add the extras to give Ulster a 12-3 lead.
Keatley was then wide with a rather hopeful 51-metre penalty effort and Ulster looked comfortable until just about the last play of the half when prop Ronan Loughney powered over the home side's line from a lineout.
Keatley's conversion ensured that the visitors trailed by only two points at the turnaround.
Early strike
However, Ulster struck first after the restart when replacement Kyriacou barged over after a great surge from Andrew Trimble.
Humphreys nailed the conversion to give Ulster a 19-10 lead and five minutes later they sealed their bonus point when centre Whitten burst through the Connacht midfield and scored at the posts.
Humphreys took advantage of the straightforward conversion to put Ulster 16 points ahead, then stretched Ulster's lead to 29-10 with a penalty four minutes before the hour mark.
At the end, second row Tuohy was put clear by replacement prop Bryan Young with Humphreys adding the extras, before a miserable night for Connacht was completed when Smith dotted down in the left corner in injury-time.
The only low point for the hosts was a suspected ankle injury to Rory Best, which saw the Ireland hooker leave the field early in the second half.
