Ulster head coach Dan McFarland says his side are “gutted” but Connacht deserved their 22-20 win in Galway.

“Fair play to them, they deserved to win in the end,” McFarland said.

“We’re pretty gutted in there. We came to do a job and we wanted to win the game.”

Both sides were unbeaten heading into Saturday’s inter-provincial derby at the Sportsground and it looked good for Ulster after tries from Jake Flannery and Dave Shanahan, plus another 10 points from the tee by the former, put the visitors in a strong position.

However, Connacht hit back through centres Cathal Forde and Tom Farrell before wing Diarmuid Kilgallen collected Jack Carty’s kick with five minutes to play to score the decisive try.

“We know they are a really good team playing some of the best rugby in the league,” McFarland added, speaking to the URC.

“They had a really strong team out, but we knew what we had to do. We had to be physical at the breakdown and in the tackle area.

“From that perspective I was really proud of what the guys put out there.

“Ultimately, we had opportunities to win the game, we didn’t take them and Connacht were pretty decisive in that third quarter.”

Addison injured hamstring in warm-up

As well as dealing with the defeat, Ulster’s injury list has grown further with several players now doubts for Friday’s game at home to Munster.

Full-back Will Addison was forced out of the starting team in the warm-up and debutant flanker Reuben Crothers was replaced after picking up a head injury in the opening two minutes.

Prop James French and centre James Hume were also forced off for head injury assessments and will miss Friday’s game in Belfast.

McFarland had made 11 changes for the match after an injury-hit win over the Bulls in their second match week.

Cormac Izuchukwu and Dave Ewers suffered concussions against the South Africans, while Tom O’Toole, Robert Baloucoune, Jacob Stockdale, Michael Lowry and Jude Postlethwaite picked up muscle injuries from the match.

McFarland was also missing Ireland’s World Cup players Stuart McCloskey, Rob Herring and Iain Henderson, meaning he was without 19 players in total for Saturday’s trip to Galway.

“Reuben is a HIA, I think James French was a HIA, James Hume was a HIA as well, so they won’t be available next week,” McFarland said after Ulster fielded a match day squad with an average age of 23 with debuts handed to Crothers, Joe Hopes and centre Ben Carson.

“Will, I think his hamstring tightened up before the game and we’ll have to see around that.

“We have a few issues around the injuries at the moment but that is how it goes. Hopefully, fingers crossed, later in the season we will be all good.”

While there was disappointment for Ulster, Connacht head coach Pete Wilkins was delighted with his side for the character they showed to fight back and go top of the table.

“I thought the composure they showed and the belief they showed – credit to them, I think it was fantastic,” he said.

“There wasn’t any panic at half-time. We were playing into a strong wind which had actually died down at half time.

“We felt if we stuck to our processes we would get some field position and we’d be alright. To concede so soon in the second half, that could put a lot of doubt in players’ minds, but I thought the composure the showed to hang in there – we didn’t panic.

“We found a way and that is terrific.”