Gavin Duffy is tackled by Ulster's Isaac Boss

Ulster (3) 18
Tries: Court, McCullough
Cons: Wallace
Pens: O'Connor, Wallace

Connacht (3) 6
Pens: Dunne, Nathan

Ulster moved eight points clear of Connacht at the bottom of the Magners League with an 18-6 win over their Irish provincial rivals at Ravenhill.

Andy Dunne kicked an early penalty but Niall O'Connor replied to leave the scores level at 3-3 at half-time.

Prop Tom Court rumbled over for a 61st minute try with Paddy Wallace converting and then adding a penalty.

Troy Nathan pulled back a penalty for Connacht but a Matt McCullough try secured the victory for Ulster.

The wet conditions made handling difficult and flowing rugby improbable in the first half and Ulster had a disappointing start when Stephen Ferris was sin-binned on seven minutes for recklessly diving over a ruck.

Dunne was wide with a drop-goal attempt soon after but knocked over a penalty after 14 minutes.

Connacht prop Robbie Morris became the second player to be sin-binned when he was shown a yellow card for an offence at the restart.

O'Connor failed with a penalty attempt but made amends by levelling the scores with a 37th-minute effort.

Dunne skewed a penalty attempt right of the posts before the break and then missed with two more attempts after half-time.

Court drove over for a try, which was awarded after consultation with the video official, and Wallace converted to give Ulster some breathing space.

A Wallace penalty five minutes later made it 13-3, Nathan replied with a penalty on 72 minutes and then McCullough barged over to ensure that Connacht did not win a bonus point.

The win is a massive boost to Ulster's hopes of securing Heineken Cup rugby next season.

Ulster coach Matt Williams:

"We were nervous at the beginning and we really wanted to run the ball, so it took us a while to adjust to the wet conditions after the most incredible storm.

"There was a bad penalty count aginst us but when we settled down and started the second half positively, we were ok.

"Connacht can be proud of their courage and commitment but we were just that little bit bigger and had a little more pace, so we got away with it in the end.

Ulster: B Cunningham; T Bowe, A Trimble, P Wallace, M Bartholomeusz; N O'Connor, I Boss; J Fitzpatrick, R Best (capt), T Court, J Harrison, C Del Fava, M McCullough, K Dawson, S Ferris.
Replacements: N Brady, B Young, R Caldwell, N Best, P Marshall, R Dewey, M McCrea.

Connacht: G Duffy; M Mostyn, M Deane, K Matthews, D Riordan; A Dunne, C McPhillips; B Wilkinson, A Flavin, R Morris; D Gannon, A Farley (capt); J Muldoon, J O'Connor, C Rigney.
Replacements: J Fogarty, R Loughney, A Browne, L Casserly, R Shaw, T Nathan, D Yapp.