It was far from the romp to victory that I’d predicted but it was a bonus point win none the less.

The Northern Hemisphere has come under some criticism with the European nations exiting the World Cup last weekend and it is games like this that shows where the problems lie.

The Celtic league used to be a vibrant antidote to the English Premiership but over the last few seasons it’s become more and more like the biff, bash, bosh of our near neighbours with pumped up bodies and hard working defences now the norm.

All this hard work seems to leave little energy for silky skills but fortunately Ulster still have one maverick that manages to buck the trend in none other than Ian Humphreys who continues to base his game on his skills.

Give me the creative vulnerabilities of Humphreys any day over the bumbling, fumbling rugby by rote that was served up in the opening quarter of this match which saw Rhys Patchell kick Cardiff into a 0 – 3 lead.

Fortunately the stultifying sameness of the two teams was split wide open on the 18th minute when Ulster’s “as bad as they are good brothers” took over to create Ulster’s opening score.

Nick Williams blasted a path of destruction up the centre of the pitch to the Cardiff 22 where quick ball allowed Humphreys to send Louis Ludik clear with an exquisite pass behind the backs of the onrushing defence. The difficulty and timing of Humphreys 15 yard pass, at pace, in heavy traffic, was immediately emphasised by the difficulty that Ludik had in keeping his five yard effort to Andrew Trimble straight, but Ludik’s effort was surprisingly ruled OK and Trimble was awarded the first try of the game.

The flashes of brilliance were quickly quenched as a blanket of low risk rugby was thrown over both sides. Cardiff made the fewer mistakes and quickly re-established their lead, and then extended it,  through two Patchell penalties.

Ulster got their challenge back on track just before the break after a penalty from a poor challenge by Dan Fish on Ludik saw Ulster camped in the Blues 22 as the clock ticked down.

A reckless boot by Josh Turnbull to the face of Paul Marshall saw the Cardiff No. 8 binned and the diminutive scrum half took full advantage nipping over through a huge Andrew Trimble sized hole in the Cardiff defence. Humphreys converted and Ulster turned round 12 – 9 to the good.

The home side took full advantage of Turnbull’s absence with a magnificent driving maul which meandered 20 yards down field to crash over the try line close to the posts. Williams came up with the ball and Humphreys added the extras to extend their lead to 19 – 9.

Turnbull returned but was powerless to stop Ulster claiming the bonus point as Stuart McCloskey stretched for the line after good work by Williams and Trimble and, with the bonus point in the bag, Humphreys trotted off after missing the conversion.

The substitution saw the welcome return of Paddy Jackson and, shortly after Darren Cave, from World Cup duty, but despite some trademark crisp passing from young Jackson Ulster struggled to create further chances apart from the occasional rumble from Williams.

Cardiff finished the stronger and their pressure saw Wiehahn Herbst carded for slowing play, the Ulster prop hardly settled in his seat before Josh Navidi nipped over out wide for an unconverted try.

A late penalty from Patchell pushed to score to 24 – 17, with just under ten minutes to go, but any thoughts of a Cardiff comeback where quickly quashed as the third yellow card of the match was handed to Aled Summerhill for a dump tackle on Craig Gilroy.

With a man advantage for the final seven minutes Ulster held on to record their third home bonus point win this season.

Ulster: Louis Ludik, Andrew Trimble, Sam Arnold, Stuart McCloskey, Craig Gilroy, Ian Humphreys, Paul Marshall, Callum Black, Rob Herring, Wiehahn Herbst, Lewis Stevenson, Franco vd Merwe, Roger Wilson, Sean Reidy, Nick Williams. Replacements: John Andrew, Andrew Warwick, Ricky Lutton, Peter Browne, Willie Faloon, David Shanahan, Paddy Jackson, Darren Cave.