Released from the Ireland camp, centre Darren Cave made the difference for Ulster as his 44th minute try guided them to a narrow RaboDirect PRO12 win over the Ospreys.
VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS: ULSTER 10 OSPREYS 7
Darren Cave, playing at inside centre alongside Jared Payne, capitalised on a defensive lapse from the Welshmen early in the second half to land the decisive try, topped up by five points from the boot of Ruan Pienaar.
The victory elevates Ulster above the Ospreys into second place – 41 points to 40 – with Munster still leading the pack on 43 points with a game in hand.
Despite a two-week hiatus for the Six Nations, it had been a busy fortnight at Ravenhill in the lead-up to this round 13 game.
Their head coach Mark Anscombe extended his contract until summer 2015, and captain Johann Muller announced his retirement from professional rugby at the end of this season.
With Andrew Trimble, Rory Best and Chris Henry all due to start for Ireland against Wales – and Paddy Jackson and Dan Tuohy on the bench – Anscombe offered Ricky Andrew, Michael Allen, James McKinney, Rob Herring and Sean Doyle a further chance to stake their claims for regular starting berths.
Meanwhile, Cave, Iain Henderson and Luke Marshall, not retained by Joe Schmidt for Saturday’s Six Nations fixture, all returned to the Ulster bench.
The Ospreys spent the opening 10 minutes camped in the Ulster half with a monopoly on possession. They looked destined to come away empty-handed until a chain of rapid passes five metres from home eliminated the Ulster defensive line and freed flanker Sam Lewis to dive over.
Full-back Sam Davies converted, although Ulster came close to getting back on terms within five minutes, Allen touching down a hair’s breadth from the left touchline only for the replays to show a knock-on in the build-up.
Pienaar’s penalty opened the Ulster account on 24 minutes after the scrum half had chased down Matthew Morgan to force the infringement, the Welsh out-half illegally attempting to run the ball himself after being grounded by the tackle.
A weak 33rd minute penalty attempt from Davies ensured the gap remained at 7-3, and although Ulster put together a succession of probing runs – with Cave and Craig Gilroy particularly threatening – the visitors resisted impressively until the final minute of the half, eventually conceding a penalty at scrum time.
Pienaar stepped up just ahead of the 10-metre line, but pulled his kick to the right of the posts to bring an ultimately disappointing first half for the home side to an end.
As he had threatened in the first half, Cave made a decisive impact in the second period. He picked up on the 22 and slalomed his way through some slack Ospreys defending for a try from nowhere on 44 minutes.
Pienaar converted from out wide for a slender lead, before half-time replacement Henderson – on for Lewis Stevenson – made his mark with some forceful driving for the line in the 53rd minute.
The second row astutely collected a smart charge down from Pienaar on the 22 and barged his way through to the try-line.
However, television match official Marshall Kilgore once again ruled against the award of the try, with Henderson adjudged by referee Nigel Owens not to have fully grounded the ball.
With Luke and Paul Marshall joining fellow replacement Nick Williams on the pitch just before the hour mark, Ulster continued to bombard the Ospreys defence from deep.
The province also needed their wits about them defensively, as Pienaar halted a dangerous central break from Lewis with an aggressive track and tackle in the 67th minute.
The Ospreys continued to turn the screw through a five-metre scrum with eight minutes remaining, but Ulster succeeded in clearing their lines in increasingly boggy conditions underfoot.
Two successive steals at Ospreys lineouts then put paid to any danger of a late reversal, with a great late aerial take from Andrew allowing Ulster to kick to touch.
Next up for Anscombe’s men is a Valentine’s night date with the Scarlets at Ravenhill, before a trip to Italy to face Benetton Treviso on Sunday, February 23.
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