Three points separated the sides after a tense first half, with Paddy Jackson outscoring Rhys Patchell by two penalties to one, but the fireworks were still to come in the second period.

It looked like Craig Gilroy's excellent score was enough for the Ulstermen to take a win home with them, but two tries in the final ten minutes from Patchell and Aled Summerhill turned the game on its head and made the final score 23-13.

Cardiff started the game in the ascendancy at scrum time, the Blues pack winning an eight-minute penalty with a big shove, but Patchell could not kick his side into the lead as his effort drifted wide despite having the distance.

Scrappy play from both sides kept the ball largely in the middle of the park, but a huge hit from Josh Turnbull on Callum Black got the Cardiff crowd going.

But it was Ulster who squandered the next chance to take the lead, Jackson's long penalty attempt from wide on the left sailing right of the uprights after 19 minutes.

Slick hands from Jarrad Hoeata and then Rey Lee-Lo saw the hosts advance up the pitch shortly after, but a knock-on soon after saw the momentum lost, and patient play from Ulster saw them claim the first points of the game on 32 minutes.

Nick Williams, Darren Cave and Jackson were all involved before Cardiff were pinged in front of the posts, and this time the latter made no mistake with the simple kick to make it 3-0.

And five minutes later the same man doubled their advantage after Ruan Pienaar kicked in behind and Cardiff Blues were penalised for holding on as they looked to run from deep, with Peter Browne doing the hard work at the breakdown.

But Patchell's kick from range did at least ensure the hosts were on the board before the interval, with Ulster penalised as the clock ticked into the red.

The scores were level just three minutes after the break, with Patchell again nailing a monster kick, but just as the hosts looked to have wrestled the momentum away from Ulster they were hit with a sucker punch on 47 minutes.

Franco van der Merwe provided a couple of big carries, before a brilliant line-break from Sam Arnold saw him draw the full-back in, before an expertly executed offload allowed Gilroy to finish off the move for the game's opening try - Jackson adding the extras.

The game then opened up, with Jackson kicking the ball dead as he looked to chip in behind, and Cardiff then seeing their best opportunity of the game so far go begging.

Patchell provided the break but Stuart Olding was there to haul down opposite number Dan Fish and prevent a certain try.

Stubborn defence from Ulster kept the home side out from the resulting scrum, but the pressure was mounting on the visitors after Patchell reduced the deficit with his third penalty on 66 minutes.

The game was set for a grandstand finish with the scoreline finely poised at 13-9 heading into the final ten minutes.

Les Kiss reshuffled his backline with Rory Scholes on for Arnold, with Gilroy moving to fullback and Olding to the midfield, but it was Cardiff who made the decisive score.

A brilliant line from Lee-Lo saw him cut through Ulster, and he put Patchell through to cross the whitewash, with the extra points making it 16-13 to the hosts.

And in a frantic finish to the game, Summerhill wrapped up the win with the Blues second try in quick succession, Patchell nudging the conversion over with 90 seconds remaining to condemn Ulster to their second straight GUINNESS PRO12 defeat.

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