Rory Best’s first-half try set Ulster on their way to a hard-fought 18-10 victory at the Kingspan Stadium as Connacht failed in their quest to record a first win in Belfast since 1960.

The victory sends the hosts back into the Guinness PRO12 top four while the league-leading visitors tasted defeat for the first time since January.

Ulster controlled the game in the first half with skipper Best dotting down for the period’s only try and when Craig Gilroy went over shortly after the break, the hosts looked comfortable with an 18-3 lead.

But Connacht are not top of the table for nothing and Caolin Blade crashed over to give them hope.

But the visitors were down to 13 men for the final seven minutes thanks to a pair of sin-binnings, essentially ending any hopes of a comeback, as coach Pat Lam is still looking for his first triumph over Ulster since taking charge in 2013.

Connacht may not have won in Belfast for more than half a century heading into the clash but Lam’s troops are a different beast this season – their ferocious pack and game-breaking backline combining to make them mainstays atop the Guinness PRO12 table.

But it was the hosts who troubled the scorers first as Paddy Jackson’s sixth-minute penalty settled any nerves and established an early advantage.

Connacht eschewed a chance to level proceedings soon after as they kicked for touch rather than for the posts and not only left pointless but found themselves 6-0 down as Ulster marched down the field before Jackson slotted another three-pointer.

Unlike their opponents, opting to kick a penalty to touch paid dividends for the Ulstermen just before the half-hour mark as they formed an inexorable driving maul from the resulting ten-metre line-out with captain Best the beneficiary to establish an 11-0 lead.

Fly-half Jackson’s conversion hit the post and his opposite number Shane O’Leary – making his first Guinness PRO12 start with Jack Carty, AJ MacGinty and Craig Ronaldson all absent – suffered the same fate with a penalty just before half-time.

The 23-year-old had a chance to redeem himself as the clock seeped into red with a three-pointer ten metres in from the right touchline and this time made no mistake to narrow the deficit to 11-3 at the break.

Ulster had lost three of their last four encounters to drop out of the play-off places but moved a step closer to a vital win early in the second half as Jared Payne, who had produced a try-saving tackle on John Cooney before the interval, expertly offloaded to Gilroy who dived over in the corner.

Jackson’s touchline conversion extended the gap to 15 points but a sin-binning for Andrew Trimble soon after gave the league leaders hope and they duly took advantage.

A number of missed opportunities were consigned to the past when a string of offloads allowed Blade to slice through the defence and barrel his way over the whitewash to bring the visitors back into it.

Skipper Best almost put the game beyond doubt on 65 minutes but was held up over the line and when O’Leary and Sean O’Brien were yellow-carded with just under ten minutes to play, Ulster sensed a chance to earn a bonus-point win over their 13-man visitors.

However the Connacht defence held firm to stop any further damage although they slipped to just a sixth league loss of the season.

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