Cardiff Blues 15 Ulster 37:Ulster moved up to third place in the Magners League table on the back of a second half scoring blitz that saw them score 15 points in a four-minute spell to end a run of seven straight defeats at the hands of Cardiff Blues.
The home side led 15-8 at half-time but disintegrated in a second period in which they rarely crossed the halfway line.
Ulster, dominant up front throughout, began to string a few passes together to claim their first league win on the road since September.
In the early stages the Blues had displayed a refreshing willingness to throw the ball around, a fine miss pass by Ceri Sweeney sending fullback Chris Czekaj away and left wing Tom James collecting a loose kick to race 60 yards before being brought down just short of the line.
A home try duly arrived when mercurial Kiwi centre Casey Laulala picked up a charged-down Ulster clearance before skipping past two defenders to the line. Sweeney converted.
Ulster hit back, making ground down the left before spreading it right for wing Craig Gilroy to cross with a spare man outside him.
A long-range penalty from Ian Humphreys put Ulster ahead and the Blues also lost influential number eight Xavier Rush who changed his mind about a summer move to Ravenhill through injury.
A deliberate knock-on to prevent Czekaj delivering a try-scoring pass to Tom James brought a yellow card for Ulster fullback Adam D’Arcy, and while he was absent James claimed his deserved touchdown after hooker Rhys Thomas and flanker Michael Paterson had been held up on the line.
Sweeney slotted a penalty after visiting flanker Chris Henry was also guilty of a deliberate knock-on and Ulster suffered a further blow when South African Johann Muller was knocked out and had to retire to the stand.
But everything changed in the second half as the visitors brought on the cavalry in the shape of international centres Andrew Trimble and Paddy Wallace and, with D’Arcy restored to the action, they began to look more dangerous.
Humphreys narrowed the gap with a penalty and then dinked a kick ahead which the lively Gilroy retrieved before slicing past two defenders to the posts.
D’Arcy powered down the left to cross for another score straight after the resumption and the game had a totally different look.
Substitute Willie Faloon galloped 30 yards to clinch a bonus point with the Blues’ defence in disarray, and when Gareth Williams inexplicably tried a grubber kick that failed to breach the Ulster line, Wallace had a free run to score. Humphreys’ third conversion hammered in the final nail.
Cardiff Blues:Chris Czekaj; Richard Mustoe, Casey Laulala, Dafydd Hewitt, Tom James; Ceri Sweeney, Tom Slater; Tau Filise, T Rhys Thomas, Scott Andrews, James Down, Paul Tito, Mike Paterson, Ma'ama Molitika, Xavier Rush.
Replacements:Bryn Griffiths for Down (20 mins), Ben White for Rush (30 mins), Gareth Williams for Rhys Thomas (69 mins), Gareth Davies for Sweeney (72 mins). Subs not used:Tom Davies, Sam Hobbs, Dan Fish, Gavin Evans
Ulster:Adam D'Arcy; Craig Gilroy, Nevin Spence, Ian Whitten, Simon Danielli; Ian Humphreys, Paul Marshall; Paddy McAllister, Nigel Brady, BJ Botha, Johann Muller, Dan Tuohy, Pedrie Wannenburg, Chris Henry, Robbie Diack.
Replacements:Tim Barker for Muller (37 mins), Paddy Wallace for Whitten, Andrew Trimble for Spence (both 47 mins), Willie Faloon for Diack (48 mins), Bryan Young for McAllister (57 mins), Andy Kyriacou for Brady (69 mins), Jerry Cronin for Botha (72 mins). Sub not used:Ian Porter.