There's another record that remains in Belfast though.

One Ulster desperately wanted to shed. Once again they failed to make it past the group stage, the same way it's been since they won the trophy back in 1999, and with another campaign finished they still have to register a win on English or French soil.

On paper this year presented Ulster with a decent chance of making the quarter-finals. But again reality proved a more difficult proposition and one that Ulster couldn't handle.

Elimination means they now must pool their resources into challenging for the Celtic League crown or at least try to finish above Leinster or Munster so they are not ranked the third Irish province for next year's draw.

In the last couple of seasons they have been in the pool of death but with Treviso, underachieving Saracens and Biarritz in their group, and the side boosted by the summer signings of Justin Harrison, Justin Fitzpatrick and Isaac Boss, there was a real sense of optimism before the tournament began.

That was further enhanced with a good start in the Celtic League and in the first Heineken Cup game the side secured a maximum five points against the Italians.

But failure to even take a single bonus point from their games in Biarritz and London ended hopes of participation beyond January.

Ulster coach Mark McCall was ultimately disappointed that the side have gone out of Europe yet again in the group stages but he believes that there have been enough positive aspects in their performance to be hopeful of future success. And with a core of young players coming through the ranks and challenging the more established names, he is hopeful that success will come soon.

"You have got to be disappointed because the aim was to reach the quarter-final stages and to lose a home game is really disappointing, " said McCall. "I don't think we lost the home record without a whimper as we showed some really positive signs as we had done in Biarritz. Perhaps we saw some of the inexperience in the side from time to time. The average age of the Biarritz pack was 29 or 30 while ours was 24 or 25. They have been together for a long period of time and we want to keep this group together for a long period of time and hopefully the experiences they've had in the Heineken Cup this year will stand to them."

The coach is not afraid to give youth a chance if he believes they are good enough.

Winger Tommy Bowe is in only his second full season and has already played for his province 43 times and won six Irish caps. Andrew Trimble has been the find of the season, not only for Ulster but also for the national side and his full-time contract doesn't begin until next season despite the Ballymena centre already having two Ireland caps.

McCall introduced another of his young guns on Friday night in the shape of Dungannon flanker Stephen Ferris. He caught the eye for the Irish under-21s in last summer's world cup and McCall is hoping for big things after a solid performance on his first start.

"Given his age and his lack of experience he was in pretty good company tonight and he didn't look out of place at all. There were some scintillating moments in attack when his potential was there for all to see and I think he has got a pretty exciting future."

There will no doubt be a lot of changes at Ravenhill in the summer and McCall will be hoping he can strengthen the squad so they are in a position to be challenging for honours next season. As many as eight players could leave to free up money for new blood to be brought in.

Their biggest problem remains the same. They have no natural successor to David Humphreys. He became only the fifth man to score 500 points in the European Cup and he is also the record pointscorer in the Celtic League.

On Friday his importance was shown as he limped off and his side never scored another point in his absence.

Contract negotiations are continuing amid speculation that the Super 14 outfit, Western Stormers, are interested in obtaining his services.

Apart from the current squad there is a good youth system in place and the likes of Paul Marshall and lock Ryan Caldwell could come to the fore next season. The pack is also maturing, lead by 26year-old skipper Simon Best who has 100 Ulster appearances in seven seasons.

Despite going out of Europe the captain is also very upbeat about the future of the side. "It will be very easy to lift the guys after that. We'll look at the good things we did, we still have an awful lot to play for as we are fourth in the Celtic League with a great opportunity to stamp our authority on that competition and we'll treat that as the next phase of our season. We still have one game left in the European Cup and it is important that we finish well."

Going out of the competition was a blow to Ulster but the important thing in sport is you learn from your mistakes.

The core of the side is certainly young enough to bounce back and over the campaign there hasn't been too much wrong with the side.

They have been a little guilty of switching off at crucial times but that is nothing that can't be fixed and the longer this team stays together, the more chance it will have of being successful.