Ulster 26 Cardiff 17: Ulster moved level on points with Leinster at top of the Celtic League with a hard-fought victory over Cardiff at Ravenhill last night.
They overturned a 9-0 deficit to close out an ultimately comfortable victory thanks to a secondhalf try by Roger Wilson and the trusty boot of David Humphreys.
Ulster, playing into the wind the first-half, had gone into the interval trailing 12-10, but the home side's growing momentum saw them pull away.
Three second-half penalties, a conversion by Humphreys and a touchdown by Wilson, who powered over from a scrum in the 65th minute, closed out the win after Cardiff had briefly regained the advantage with a try by centre Jamie Robinson against the run of play.
Soon after the kick-off, the visitors were gifted an opportunity when the Ulster pack conceded a penalty at a ruck and fullback Nick MacLeod made no mistake in the swirling wind with a second minute penalty.
And with Cardiff enjoying more possession and territory in the early exchanges, MacLeod doubled the visitors' lead with his second penalty in the eighth minute as Ulster looked sluggish after their three-week lay-off.
Moments later Justin Harrison was penalized at a lineout, but this time MacLeod's effort drifted wide, much to the Ravenhill crowd's relief. But the home side soon found themselves further adrift MacLeod landed his third penalty in the 13th minute.
Ulster had barely touched the ball, but then from nowhere they were right back in the game thanks to a mistake by the Blues' points-machine. Isaac Boss charged down MacLeod's clearance kick from the restart and as the scrumhalf hacked ahead with the line at his mercy, he was illegally pushed to the ground by Cardiff outhalf Nick Robinson.
Scottish referee Andy Ireland had no hesitation in awarding a penalty try, with Humphreys adding the conversion and Robinson admonished with a yellow card.
The visitors should have been reduced to 13 men when flanker Maama Molitika took Paul Steinmetz out with a shoulder charge off the ball.
Ulster were awarded a penalty after another late effort by Molitika, which culminated in a brawl between the packs and after Humphreys had kicked for position, a wave of attacks by the home side ended in a penalty which the Ulster out-half converted to put his side in front.
The visitors struck back with MacLeod's fourth penalty in the 35 th minute to give Cardiff a slender lead at the break.
SCORING SEQUENCE: 2mins: N MacLeod pen, 0-3; 8mins: MacLeod pen, 0-6; 12mins: MacLeod pen, 0-9; 15mins: pen try, D Humphreys con, 7-9; 28mins: Humphreys pen, 10-9; 35mins: MacLeod pen, 10-12 ;
ULSTER: B Cunningham; T Bowe, A Trimble, P Steinmetz, A Maxwell, D Humphreys, I Boss; B Young, R Best, S Best, J Harrison, M McCullough,
N Best, S Ferris, R Wilson. Replacements: N Brady, J Fitzpatrick, R Caldwell, N McMillan, K Campbell, P Wallace, J Bell.
CARDIFF BLUES: N Macleod; C Czekaj, J Robinson, M Stcherbina, C Morgan; N Robinson, M Phillips; J Yapp, R Thomas, G Jenkins, D Jones, R Sidoli, M Molitika, R Sowden-Taylor, X Rush (capt). Replacements: B Evans, D Goodfield, K Schubert, M Lewis, R Powell, T Davies, D Hewitt