Connacht 13
Ulster 30

Connacht's hopes of finally making it into the Heineken Cup for the first time suffered a huge blow at the Sportsground on Friday night.

PRESSURE . . . Connacht out-half Tim Donnelly comes under pressure from Ulster centre Andrew Trimble during Friday night's Magners league clash at the Sportsground. Photo: Declan Monaghan.

Ulster secured a priceless win as they outscored Connacht by three tries to one and moved off the bottom of the Magners League table.

Italian international Carlo Del Fava scored his first try for Ulster to send them on their way to victory.

Ulster were hanging on to a three points lead going into the final quarter when the Italian lock came in at the end of a good move to dive over for the decisive score of the game.

Paddy Wallace, who kicked six from seven, added the points and suddenly Ulster were heading out of sight in this basement clash.

There was no way back for Connacht after Del Fava's score and Ulster ended in style with a third try in stoppage time when Roger Wilson ended a fleeting move.

But it seemed in the third quarter that Ulster were going to stay rooted to the bottom of the table when Danny Riordan raced through for the opening try of the game.

Tim Donnelly added the points to make it 10-6 for Connacht and another score at that stage could have swung the game in the home side's favour.

Ulster looked to be in serious trouble as moments earlier Neil Best was sin-binned. But crucially, it was Ulster who got the next score when Kieron Dawson went blindside off a five metre lineout to score in the right corner.

There was little between the sides in the opening half as both were slow to settle and nerves were apparent on both sides.

Paddy Wallace landed penalties after six and 32 minutes to give Ulster the advantage but Connacht got real hope when Donnelly landed a penalty in stoppage time.

Connacht were aggrieved when World Cup final referee Alain Rolland did not opt to use the television match official when it looked as if a series of surges after Del Fava's try had got them over the line with Brett Wilkinson touching down.

Instead he awarded a five-metre scrum but Ulster defended their line stoutly and all they conceded after that was a penalty from Andy Dunne who impressed when introduced for his competitive for Connacht having been out with a knee injury since the pre-season clash with South Africa.

Connacht:
Try: Riordan
Con: Donnelly
Pens: Donnelly, Dunne.

Ulster:
Tries: Dawson, Del Fava, Wilson
Cons: Wallace (3)
Penalties: Wallace (3).

Connacht: G Duffy; A Wynne, D Riordan, M Deane, O Treviranus; T Donnelly, C McPhillips; B Wilkinson, A Flavin, R Morris; M Swift, A Farley; M McCarthy, J O'Connor, J Muldoon.
Replacements: A Dunne for Donnelly, 54 mins; C O'Loughlin for McPhillips, 59 mins; R Loughney for Morris, 74 mins; R Ofisa for O'Connor, 78 mins; J Merrigan for Flavin, 78 mins.

Ulster: M Bartholomeusz; T Bowe, A Trimble, P Steinmetz, S Danielli; P Wallace, I Boss; J Fitzpatrick, R Best, B Young, M McCullough, C Del Fava, N Best, K Dawson, R Wilson.
Replacements: D Pollock for Dawson, 59 mins; R Caldwell for McCullough, 62 mins; R Dewey for Steinmetz, 70 mins.

Referee: Alain Rolland (IRFU).

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