Cardiff Local Guide A guide to all Things Cardiff
Danny Wilson’s men had led going into the closing stages of the first half before a try from Paul Marshall sparked a try blitz from the hosts.
Further tries from Nick Williams and Stuart McCloskey earned the Belfast boys the bonus point before Blues dug deep to earn real credit.
Josh Navidi showed all his power and desire to bulldoze over in the corner and Rhys Patchell kicked the visitors back within bonus point range with seven minutes left.
That sparked a late rally and real anxiety inside the stadium as Ulster were forced to hold out to claim a home win while Wilson will be left with plenty of reasons to be positive.
Blues have now run all four Irish provinces lose – losing by seven points twice and eight points twice – and emerged with real credit for a hard run of fixtures away from BT Sport Cardiff Arms Park.
Now the focus turns to Italy next weekend as Blues look to return to winning ways before getting back on home soil after five away games.
The visitors showed plenty of intent in the opening minutes of the fixture in Belfast as Patchell turned down a kick at the posts, after Craig Mitchell’s powerful burst, and instead went to the corner.
However, when the visiting forwards earned another penalty a minute later, this time in the shadow of the posts, it was Patchell who drilled over the kick for the lead.
Ulster looked to put Blues under real pressure at the breakdown with their first attack and when they won a lineout, after a cruel deflection of a visiting boot, the drive followed. But Blues held firm and a knock saw the chance gone.
Ireland ace Andrew Trimble was a treat with ball in hand as he menacingly looked for space while Dan Fish looked assured for the visitors under the high ball while his range of kicking forced Ulster back.
Blues looked in control before two powerful runs from home Number Eight Williams gave Ulster sudden go forward. With tacklers tied up, the home side spun the ball wide and Trimble gleefully raced in.
The deadly accurate boot of Patchell put Blues back ahead while a spinning Tavis Knoyle took a sliced clearance brilliantly by the touchline to set Blues off again as Cam Dolan and Josh Turnbull thunder in contact.
A huge shift from the Cardiff forwards saw them relentlessly take the ball on before another penalty saw Patchell again dissect the sticks for a 9-5 lead.
But, just seconds later, a bizarre penalty awarded against Fish, when he appeared to simply contest a high ball with Trimble, gave Ulster an attacking platform that they used with huge efficiency.
The home side turned the screw as Blues defended valiantly on their own line until Turnbull was yellow carded at the breakdown. The resulting scrum saw Marshall dive over for a slender half-time lead.
Blues started the second half a man down and knowing they would face an immediate onslaught from the home side. It duly came as a scrum won a penalty and then a lineout was shunted over with Number Eight Williams touching down for a 19-9 lead.
The momentum was all Ulster and a third try came on 50 minutes as slick handling opened up space for centre McCloskey to score and extend the lead further with the bonus point in the bag.
Blues needed a foothold and it came courtesy of wing Richard Smith, who showed a powerful hand-off to race out from deep, before Dolan tore into open pace.
Then a penalty for a late tackle on Fish presented Blues with a lineout attack and another penalty seconds later, for cynically slowing down play on the line, saw home prop Wiehahn Herbst sin binned.
Cardiff Blues turned the screw and sublime finish from flanker Navidi saw him bounce off two tacklers and stretch out an arm to crash in the corner to cut the lead to 24-14.
A high up and under from Fish sparked another away attack but Ulster were holding firm a man down as Blues looked to creep back into bonus point range.
Adam Thomas reacted first to a loose ball to stop a rare Ulster foray into the visiting 22 and as the game entered the final ten minutes it was still within grasp for Wilson’s men.
The moment Blues wanted came as over-eager Ulster were pinged at the breakdown and Patchell put the visitors back within seven.
A yellow card for a dangerous tackle by Summerhill ensured Blues would finish the game a man down, but there was still a grandstand finish as the visitors threw everything at Ulster before the final whistle came.
Timeline:
04m Patchell p 0-3
19m Trimble t 5-3
22m Patchell p 5-6
36m Patchell p 5-9
40m Marshall t Humphreys c 12-9
46m Williams t Humphreys c 19-9
50m McCloskey t 24-9
58m Navidi t 24-14
73m Patchell p 24-17
Cardiff Blues: 15 Dan Fish, 14 Aled Summerhill, 13 Tom Isaacs, 12 Adam Thomas, 11 Richard Smith, 10 Rhys Patchell, 9 Tavis Knoyle (Jones 61); 1 Sam Hobbs (T Davies 73), 2 Matthew Rees (E Lewis 65), 3 Craig Mitchell (Filise 53), 4 Lou Reed, 5 James Down, 6 Cam Dolan (Cook 56), 7 Josh Navidi, 8 Josh Turnbull
Replacements: 16 Ethan Lewis, 17 Thomas Davies, 18 Taufa’ao Filise, 19 Chris Dicomidis, 20 Macauley Cook, 21 Lewis Jones, 22 Jarrod Evans, 23 Garyn Smith
