‘Battered’ Cave happy as Ulster stop the rot

DARREN CAVE looked like a man who had been hit by a steamroller after Ulster finally broke their four-game losing sequence thanks to a hard-earned, but thoroughly deserved victory over derby rivals Connacht at Ravenhill.

Tries at crucial times from Craig Gilroy, Tom Court and the excellent Ian Humphreys proved the difference as Ulster move up two places to seventh in the RaboDirect Pro12 League.

The westerners had been playing out of their skins lately and, unusually, sitting above Ulster in the league. Indeed many had fancied Eric Elwood’s charges to win in Belfast for the first time in over half a century.