Rugby / Heineken Cup / Ulster 27 Benetton Treviso 0: The ovation that greeted the final whistle at Ravenhill was infused with the relief of 12,252 supporters who understood how close their team came to underachieving in their seasonal bow in the Heineken European Cup.
Benetton Treviso were obdurate if limited opponents, but their gritty resolve was something Ulster found difficult to circumvent.
There was plenty of pep in the home step initially, but their patterns were fractured, undone by error and some curiously lacklustre performances.
David Humphreys, so often a catalyst for those halcyon Ulster nights here, epitomised the team's performance: good in places but lacking assurance.
The link at halfback, first with Isaac Boss and then Reece Spee, was off kilter, there was a surfeit of poor decision-making throughout the team and a lack of patience in working the opportunities.
Ulster managed the desired result because the pack, in which Neil Best, Rory Best, Matt McCullough and Justin Harrison excelled, provided three of the four tries.
Coach Mark McCall won't be happy with the performance but will be satisfied his side have started with a win and the bonus point that was a prerequisite.
It was simple to interpret the patterns Ulster sought to unleash, but ambition was undermined by a lack of precision. The home side wanted to vary the contact area, with Humphreys peppering the diminutive Brendan Williams, the Treviso fullback, with several towering Garryowens, but Ulster also looked to keep the ball in hand.
Number eight Roger Wilson probed on the fringes, Kevin Maggs didn't bother with any sidesteps, while there was a bit more subtlety in the quick feet of Andrew Trimble in contact.
For all that enterprise, the home side were undone by their own hand, their play pockmarked by error.
Time and again they eked out field position only to cough up possession through carelessness, whether a couple of turnovers out of touch, the concession of penalties at the breakdown or occasionally forcing the pass in cluttered corridors.
The rain may have stopped in time for kick-off but the players still had to contend with a greasy surface and ball. The conditions demanded accuracy and patience, and in the latter regard Ulster needed to go through one or two more phases to break down a resolute Italian challenge: the home side were a little frenetic.
The link between new scrumhalf Boss and Humphreys endured some teething problems but it was cruelly cut short when the New Zealander was forced to limp off with an ankle injury after 23 minutes, to be replaced by Spee.
Despite the stuttering start, Ulster largely dominated as Treviso lacked ambition initially, kicking away possession.
Humphreys missed with a long-range penalty, but nudged his side in front on six minutes with a more facile opportunity from 22 metres after Treviso were penalised at a scrum: it was a facet of the game in which the home side excelled and forced several Treviso infringements.
Ulster continued to threaten fitfully, but it was 20 minutes until they managed to claim the first try. Andrew Trimble made a half-break based on footwork and sheer strength; two rucks later Wilson scooted under a tackle to slide over from close range. Humphreys added the conversion.
The crowd sat back expectantly, awaiting a deluge of points, but it was Treviso who looked the sharper on the run-in to the interval, with Denis Dallan making decent yardage outside the outhalf channel and the Italians content to kick for position when numerically short out wide.
French referee Jean Pierre Matheu had offered a pernickety presence but was at least consistent in his interpretation. Having doled out several warnings about the breakdown area largely ignored by the combatants, he decided to brandish the yellow card. Justin Fitzpatrick was harshly penalised for getting himself entangled in a row to which he was a latecomer, while Fabio Ongaro and Wilson would follow him to the bin for technical offences.
The second half followed a familiar pattern, Ulster all bluster and intent but lacking the continuity to breach rather than just stretch the Italians.
There was one avenue which the home side were to find lucrative, and that was the lineout. On 50 minutes Humphreys kicked to the corner on captain Simon Best's instruction.
Their ambition may have foundered on some staunch Italian defence the first time, but seven minutes later the catch-and-drive philosophy would yield a try for Neil Best, the game's outstanding performer.
Humphreys started to hunt the corners and, from another penalty, the ball was nudged into the corner with the industrious Neil McMillan forcing his way over.
The anxiety among the supporters that had been palpable for most of the second half gave way to a raucous ovation.
A tiring Italian team then imploded and it was fitting that Trimble was the one to cotton onto the mistake, snatching up possession, bouncing off one tackler and taking out two others with an overhead pass to Maggs who scampered over from close range to earn the bonus point.
It wasn't pretty but in the circumstances that prevailed at Ravenhill last night, winning ugly had a certain appeal.
SCORING SEQUENCE: 6 mins: Humphreys penalty, 3-0; 20: Wilson try, Humphreys conversion, 10-0. Half-time: 10-0. 57: N Best try, 15-0; 75: McMillan try, Humphreys conversion, 22-0; 77: Maggs try, 27-0.
ULSTER: B Cunningham; T Bowe, A Trimble, K Maggs, J Topping; D Humphreys, I Boss; J Fitzpatrick, R Best, S Best (capt); J Harrison, M McCullough; N Best, N McMillan, R Wilson. Replacements: R Spee for Boss (23 mins); B Young for Wilson (30-39 mins); P Steinmetz for Topping (59 mins); R Caldwell for Harrison (80 mins); N Brady for R Best (81 mins); C Feather for N Best (83 mins).
BENETTON TREVISO: B Williams; D Dallan, S Legg, M Barbini, M Perziano; MJ Smith, A Troncon (capt); A Allori, F Ongaro, S Costanzo; E Pavanello, M Wentzel; S Palmer, S Orlando, D Kingi. Replacements: A Tejeda for Orlando (40 (+2)-50mins); A Pavanello for E Pavanello (60 mins); S Garazzo for Palmer (60 mins); H Mazino for Costanzo (65 mins); W Pozzebon for Dallan (66 mins); S Picone for Troncon (74 mins); Costanzo for Augusto (74 mins); W Wium for Orlando (79 mins); Tejeda for Ongaro (81 mins).
Referee: Jean Matheu (France).
Sinbin: Justin Fitzpatrick (Ulster) 29-39 mins; Roger Wilson (Ulster) 40 (+1)-49mins; Fabio Ongaro (Benetton Treviso) 40 (+2)-50mins.
Attendance: 12,252.
