Ulster’s other tries all came from backs as Tommy Bowe, Luke Marshall, Craig Gilroy and a Paul Marshall brace completed the rout for the Ulstermen.
Connacht’s points came from two tries from Dave McSharry and Darragh Leader, but they were resoundingly beaten by an Ulster side determined to get back on the winning trail following their defeat to Saracens in the Heineken Cup last week.
The tone for the game was set early on when Dan Parks tried an audacious crossfield kick in his own 22 and when Fionn Carr couldn’t gather, Ricky Lutton was there to pick up the bouncing ball.
Although the prop didn’t cross the line, it took just two more phases for Ulster to do so with Paul Marshall stretching to dot the ball down for the opening try in the fourth minute.
Connacht showed that they were not there just to make up the numbers though as they hammered away at the Ulster defence and they eventually found the gap with inside centre Dave McSharry getting the five-pointer.
Back came the hosts and after Jackson restored Ulster’s lead in the eleventh minute with a penalty, they got their second try of the evening through Andrew Trimble who finished off a prolonged attack in the corner.
The third try came on twenty-two minutes as Trimble again made a scintillating break through the Connacht defensive line and he fed Bowe who dotted down to make the score 20-5.
And it took just two more minutes for the bonus point try to arrive as Andrew Trimble provided another assist – this time to Paul Marshall from a quick line-out, and the scrum-half bagged his second try of the game.
Jackson ensured that Ulster’s lead was strengthened going into half-time with a late penalty meaning the home side went in with a 30-5 lead.
Immediately after the restart, Ulster’s fifth try summed up Connacht’s evening perfectly as the Galway side went on the attack straight from the second half kick-off only for the ball to be spilled in a promising position.
From there Tommy Bowe picked up the bouncing ball and passed inside to Andrew Trimble who turned on the afterburners and stretched Ulster’s lead to 37-5.
Then came the best score of the night as Bowe took a pass from Jackson then returned the ball to the Ireland fly-half who broke the line and offloaded to Luke Marshall who provided the sixth try on his 50th appearance for Ulster.
The onslaught continued as first Connacht substitute Michael Swift, on his 180th appearance for his province, was sin-binned for repeated offences, then Trimble sealed his hat-trick with a walk in try in the corner.
Amazingly there were still twenty minutes to play and Connacht got a rousing reception when a quick counter-attack saw Ireland U20 winger Darragh Leader cross in the corner for the visitors’ second try.
Ulster weren’t done there though, and despite dropping what seemed to be a simple interception, Craig Gilroy was the beneficiary of James McKinney’s accurate stabbed kick through to score Ulster’s final try of the night.
Andrew Trimble was mere metres from getting a fourth try with the last play of the game but he was adjudged to have knocked the ball on and referee Ian Davies called an exhilarating interpro to a close.
The win lifts Ulster into second in the table and with tricky away games against play-off rivals Glasgow, Leinster and Munster to come, this five points is exactly what Mark Anscombe and his side required.
The scorers
For Ulster
Tries: P Marshall (2), Trimble (3), Bowe, L Marshall, Gilroy
Pen: Jackson
Cons: Jackson (5)
For Connacht
Tries: McSharry, Leader
Con: Nikora
ULSTER RUGBY
(15-9) Ricky Andrew, Andrew Trimble, Tommy Bowe, Luke Marshall (Stuart McCloskey 52), Craig Gilroy, Paddy Jackson (James McKinney 60), Paul Marshall (Michael Heaney 58); (1-8) Andrew Warwick (Tom Court 62), Rob Herring (Niall Annett 47), Ricky Lutton (Adam Macklin 62), Johann Muller, Iain Henderson, Robbie Diack (Sean Doyle
, Chris Henry (Lewis Stevenson 58), Nick Williams.CONNACHT RUGBY
(15-9) Robbie Henshaw, Tiernan O’Halloran, Eoin Griffin, Dave McSharry, Fionn Carr (Darragh Leader 43), Dan Parks (Miah Nikora 62), Kieran Marmion (Frank Murphy 68); (1-8) Denis Buckley (Finlay Bealham 62), Jason Harris-Wright, Rodney Ah You (Ronan Loughney 30), Aly Muldowney, Mick Kearney (Michael Swift 53), John Muldoon, Eoghan Masterson (Andrew Browne 40), Eoin McKeon.
Sub not used: Dave Heffernan.
Yellow card: Michael Swift (56)
Man of the Match: Andrew Trimble (Ulster)
Attendance: 13,948
Referee: Ian Davies (WRU)[/tag]