Braces from Luke Marshall & Sam Carter and a late Marus Rea try helped Ulster overpower the Ospreys 47-17 in Belfast as they claimed a bonus point win.

Ulster came into this game looking to bounce back from their passive defeat to Leinster last week & they got the perfect start.

As two minutes in, centre Luke Marshall scurried over before John Andrew, moments later, scored his second try in as many games. John Cooney converted both & ten minutes in, Ulster had a 14-0 cushion.

That deficit was swiftly halved however when Ospreys winger Luke Morgan dotted down, reward for some attacking pressure, Jack Walsh converting for 14-7.

Flanker Nick Timoney was everywhere in this game, making interceptions left, right & centre. He had a try chalked off for a lack of grounding. But Sam Carter soon bundled over from a maul to restore Ulster’s two-try advantage.

Walsh kicked the visitors into double digits with a penalty. Marshall then got his second score of the night, racing in unopposed & sealing Ulster’s bonus-point by half time.

The scoring spree continued as Stuart McCloskey added Ulster’s fifth try in the corner after Mike Lowry’s sumptuous offload set him free.

A flurry of substitutions disrupted the game’s flow & after defending diligently, Lock Carter, bagged his brace of tries to make it 40-10.

Substitute Marcus Rea scored Ulster’s seventh to the delight of a roaring Kingspan crowd, Cooney’s cool conversion his sixth successful kick of the evening.

Yet, the Welsh province rounded off proceedings with the clock in red. Replacement scrumhalf, Rhys Webb, conducted the attack & Morgan Morris slipped through a tiring home defence.

Walsh converted to finish an enormously entertaining encounter at 47-17 to Ulster. A result which will buoy them, despite some defensive issues to address, ahead of their South African double-header in the coming fortnight of URC fixtures.