Celtic League/Connacht - 17 Ulster - 24: Ulster, having been caught by Connacht at the Sportsground last season, were not be tripped up again, turning on the style in the opening 60 minutes for a comfortable win. Although they were pinned to just 10 points in a wind-assisted first half, they wrapped up this contest when taking a 24-0 lead after 70 minutes, courtesy of two second-half tries.

If Connacht had hopes of staging a second-half revival - although they did produce a late blitz to grab a bonus point - two sin-binnings and the loss of two frontrow players to injury did not help their cause. Critically, they lost Mark McHugh when he was yellow carded for a second successive week - this time having stopped Kevin Maggs just shy of the line after Stephen Ferris' explosive break tore Connacht's cover to shreds.

Ulster, with their ability to keep ball in hand, had the edge in power and pace, and backed by solid set-pieces, they punished the reduced home outfit.

Isaac Boss grabbed a 56th minute try from the resulting penalty after McHugh's yellow card, and with Connacht down to 13 men when Ted Robinson was sent to the line for a dangerous tackle on Humphreys, Bryn Cunningham stretched the cover to extend the lead to 24-0 .

"We were very comfortable and really should have won by more than 24 points. We did not make the most of our opportunities, but I am very pleased to come down here after last week and get four points and win well," said Ulster coach Mark McCall.

"Although I was not sure if 10 points would be a big enough margin in that wind, I was very pleased with the way we dominated the second half, except for the last five or six minutes.

"I though our set-pieces were good, and we moved the ball well. Nineteen points from six games is a good return, given that four of those have been away."

Ulster's 10-0 half-time lead was a poor return for the amount of possession, given the strength of the wind which dissipated in the second half.

Outside of the first 10 minutes which belonged to the home side, Ulster ruled the territorial stakes as expected. Yet they were unable to make use of that dominance, in the main through Connacht's relentless defence, and a couple of handling errors.

With Connacht struggling to establish territorial control in the conditions, Ulster were rewarded for their endeavours with a host of penalty opportunities.

Some six were kicked to touch but all were contained by the Trojan efforts of the Connacht pack.

When Ulster finally opted to bring their backs into play Paddy Wallace strode through under the posts - only for referee George Clancy to penalise Ulster for crossing.

However, Ulster punished Connacht with first of three sin-binnings when number eight Colm Rigney failed to roll away.

From the resulting scrum Roger Wilson and Ferris charged to the line with Wilson claiming the touchdown.

Humphreys added the conversion and a 40th-minute penalty but was later forced off the field when replacement winger Ted Robinson followed McHugh to the line for a dangerous tackle.

McHugh, who had an indifferent day with his boot, came closest to reducing the deficit after the restart when he broke through the midfield cover. But having done all the work, he lost the ball with the line in sight, and within 10 minutes his sin-binning turned the game.

To Connacht's credit they staged a late recovery, prompted by the introduction of Paul Warwick. He notched Connacht's first try on 73 minutes, accelerating through the gap to go in under the posts, and he set up a second nine minutes later with his neat grubber kick which Matt Mostyn hacked on to score. Three minutes later and with the last kick of the match, Warwick struck from half way with a penalty, giving Connacht a valuable bonus point at the death.

CONNACHT: D Riordan; M Mostyn, D Yapp, G Williams, K Matthews; M McHugh, C Keane; B Wilkinson, J Fogarty, R Hogan, D Gannon, A Farley, J Muldoon, R Ofisa, C Rigney. Replacements: A Flavin for Fogarty, B Sturgess for Hogan (46 mins), T Robinson for Matthews (51 mins), P Warwick for Rigney (57 mins), T Tierney for Keane (61 mins), M Lacey for McHugh, M Swift for Gannon (77 mins).

ULSTER: B Cunningham; A Maxwell, K Maggs, P Wallace, A Trimble; D Hymphreys, I Boss; J Fitzpatrick, R Best, B Young, J Harrison, M McCullough, N Best, S Ferris, R Wilson. Replacements: S Young for Humphreys 67 mins, K Dawson for Ferris, T Barker for Harrison (both 72 min), K Campbell for Boss (80 min).

Yellow Cards: Connacht - C Rigney (32 mins), M McHugh (55), T Robinson (65).

Referee: George Clancy (IRFU)