Pictured above: Ulster number 8 Roger Wilson carries forward and gets caught by Ross Beattie and John Dalziel of the Borders.
Wilson, an Ireland 'A' international, tapped a quick free kick from a scrum to pave the way for prop Justin Fitzpatrick's 70th-minute try. Minus the Ireland-tied Neil Best, Ulster's back row was still one of the best facets of their game with Stephen Ferris, who operated on the blindside with Kieron Dawson at openside, taking the man-of-the-match honours.
Ulster's Ireland centre Kevin Maggs has nowhere to go as Borders duo Steve Jones and Nick De Luca wrap him up in a tackle. Maggs' 70th and most recent cap for Ireland came in the first Test win over Japan in June of last year.
Borders flanker Scott Gray tries to escape from the grasp of Kevin Maggs. Ulster's backline options have been boosted by the senior debut of former Ireland Under-21 winger Paul McKenzie. The Belfast Harlequins youngster came off the bench, replacing Andrew Maxwell for the closing stage, and coach Mark McCall admitted afterwards: "Paul came on and did make an impact in his first game."
Tim Barker sets his 6ft 6in frame in motion as he tries to avoid a tackle in Belfast. The 25-year-old lock, who spent two seasons with Glasgow before returning to Ulster last summer, has been capped for Ireland's Under-18s, Under-19s and Under-21s.
Scotland and Lions scrum half Chris Cusiter, who captains the Reivers, has the measure of Ulster winger Scott Young, who was making only his second start of the league campaign.
The once-capped All Black Paul Steinmetz tries to accelerate past Borders centre Ben MacDougall in front of a 10,452-strong crowd at Ravenhill. Steinmetz's 82nd-minute score was his fourth try in six league games.
Ireland 'A' international Neil McMillan, who came on as a 70th-minute replacement for Stephen Ferris, is smothered by Bruce Douglas and John Dalziel of the Borders. The Scots looked to have stolen a march on their hosts when Scotland flyer Simon Danielli went over for a try on the quarter-hour mark, but Ulster upped the gears in the second half, as they have been doing all season, to score four decisive tries.
Roger Wilson hits the deck after an unorthodox challenge from Borders hooker Steve Scott. Wilson was recently dubbed "the best number 8 in Europe" by Sky Sports pundit Dewi Morris, the former England scrum half.
Asked about the compliment, Wilson said: "I heard about that - it was my agent Ryan Constable who told me about it. I'm happy to get some sort of recognition but it is just a pity that it's not from the Irish selectors.
"I'm happy enough but I won't read too much into it. I'm disappointed not to be in the Irish squad but haven't had too much time to dwell on it. There is very little I can do now apart from grinding out good performances for Ulster. I might get an opportunity to play for Ireland 'A' against Australia next week.
"I can't look long term - you have to look at the short term individual and collective performances of the team. Once the team performs well you'll get more people into the international set-up." he added>
Former Ireland flanker Kieron Dawson crashes over, through the tackle of Chris Cusiter, to score Ulster's first try after 55 minutes of play. It was the Bangor man's first ever try for the province and first score in the league.
Kevin Maggs tries to break through the tackle of Chris Cusiter as Ulster go on the hunt for more tries. Afterwards coach Mark McCall said: "The first half was probably the worst we've played in 12 months. But credit to the players for turning it around, taking the game to the Borders and scoring four tries - I was very pleased with that.
"It's good to finish this part of the season with a win and five points. It is important that we keep the pressure on at the top. We were short a lot of our international players but we have great faith in the layer below that."
**All photos by Darren Kidd/Press Eye and Morgan Treacy/Inpho Photography**
