Celtic League/ Ulster 19 Leinster 24: There are not many victorious teams that walk from Ravenhill without the marks of having been in something of a dogfight. Leinster were no different last night as they matched Ulster up front, scored more tries and in the end survived Ulster's hottest period towards the end of the game, their scrumhalf in the sinbin and the home side pushing hard.

Occasionally Ulster made it easier than it should have been with some silly offsides, particularly at the end as they pressed forward just two points down.

After a difficult week with players away with the Irish squad and others threatened with match bans, it was Leinster who showed the character they are so often accused of not having in enough quantity to be a consistently strong side.

Although the end was fraught and open as both sides struggled with end-match pains and Leinster faced Ulster's desperation to find a chink in their defence, it was the visitors who enhanced their pre-match position of fourth in the Celtic League and earned the much-needed win facing into Munster next weekend and Heineken European Cup fare in mid-January.

"It's what we need as a team," said coach Michael Cheika afterwards. "We need to get through hard games, hard matches week in, week out and keep getting pressure."

Felipe Contepomi put the first points on the board following an innocuous drive in the middle of the field that uncharacteristically pushed Ulster back five yards after seven minutes. An infringement in the collapsed maul gave the Argentinian a long-range kick in the still night air for three points, the ball bouncing off the crossbar before hopping over.

It was the same again on 16 minutes, this time the Leinster outhalf capitalising on the over-zealous Ulster defence running offside, Contepomi's midfield strike giving Leinster an early six-point lead and him his 31st penalty of the season.

Leinster had found their stride a little earlier than the home side and for most of the first quarter were asking questions of Ulster in the home side's 22 but they had no real cutting edge in attack.

The early turnaround for Ulster came quickly and from nothing perceptible. Humphreys' decision to kick to touch set up Ulster's first platform on 20 minutes and for the first time in the game Leinster were asked to put bodies down inches from their line. Leinster scrambled and cleared but not far enough to extinguish the threat. It was only when Ulster handled on the deck for a penalty that Leinster finally breathed easily.

Humphreys then teased with an easy penalty miss before Andrew Trimble lit the fuse on 25 minutes to rouse the crowd of almost 14,000 fans. His break down the left sideline and around Brendan Burke, who had come in for the injured Shane Horgan, sent Leinster peeling across the pitch. When it took two players to finally stop the Irish centre from making further ground, the visitors were clearly stretched on the other side.

To Ulster's credit their instinct was sharp and when the ball was fed right through several pairs of hands in the backline, it was tighthead prop and Ulster captain Simon Best who put winger Tommy Bowe on his unimpeded try-scoring run.

A conversion and a few penalties stretched Ulster's lead to 13-6 before Contepomi brought his first half haul to nine, Ulster not for the first time caught offside within striking distance.

Leinster began the second half auspiciously thanks to Gordon D'Arcy's try and they began to compete effectively in all areas of the pitch, an encouraging sign given the abrasive nature of the Ulster pack. Justin Harrison and Neil Best did not lie down in that department but Leinster received the ideal boost with the introduction of Brian O'Driscoll and Eric Miller from the bench after 51 minutes.

Four minus later Jamie Heaslip popped the ball over a clutch of players to Girvan Dempsey. The fullback raced clear to score one of his easiest tries, apparently from nothing.

"The first 20 minutes of the second half is as poorly as we've played for a while. That was very disappointing. We were loose and slipped off some tackles but we rallied," said Ulster coach Mark McCall.

With Contepomi converting, Leinster took a 21-13 lead and from then until Guy Easterby was sinbinned in the 65th minute for an ankle tap in an offside position, Leinster played their typical ball-in-hand recycling game.

Bowe may have made ground after fielding a Humphreys crossfield kick but a knock-on denied him the touch-down. Humphreys pulled it back to 16-21 and again to 19-21 but the Leinster defence was sound until another costly offside from Ulster handed Contepomi his final kick to make it 24-19. Ulster finally ran out of time.

SCORING SEQUENCE: 7 mins: F Contepomi pen, 3-0; 16: F Contepomi pen, 6-0; 25: T Bowe try, D Humphreys con, 6-7; 29: D Humphreys pen, 6-10; 31: F Contepomi pen, 9-10; 33: Humphreys pen, 9-13. Half-time. 41: G D'Arcy try, 14-13. 55: G Dempsey try, Contepomi con, 21-13; 62: Humphreys pen, 21-16; 75: Humphreys pen, 21-19. 77: Contepomi pen, 24-19.

ULSTER: B Cunningham; T Bowe, K Maggs, A Trimble, P Steinmetz; D Humphreys, I Boss; B Young, R Beat, S Best (capt), J Harrison, M McCullough, N Best, N McMillan, R Wilson. Replacement: J Fitzpatrick for Young (55 mins).

LEINSTER: G Dempsey; B Burke, G D'Arcy, K Lewis, R Kearney; F Contepomi (capt), G Easterby; R McCormack, B Blaney, W Green, B Williams, M O'Kelly, C Jowitt, K Gleeson, J Heaslip. Replacements: D Blaney for Blaney (41 mins), B O'Driscoll and E Miller for Kearney and Jowitt (51 mins), E Byrne for Green (58 mins), B O'Riordan for Heaslip (70 mins), B Gissing for O'Riordan (78 mins).

Referee: G Clancey (IRFU).