McCall was understandably pleased with Friday night's 24-17 win in the Sportsground, but was anxious not to look beyond the next game. However, he felt Ulster showed the right attitude as they recovered from their disappointing defeat away to Munster.

On New Year's Eve last year Ulster went away from Galway without a point having been defeated 22-12 by a battling Connacht side, and it looked ominous for them on Friday night when they led just 10-0 having played with a gale in the opening half.

"We were all disappointed with the scoreline at halftime. Ten-nil with a strong wind didn't seem enough, " said McCall. But the first 25 minutes of the second half was outstanding from our point of view. To go 24-0 up with just five minutes to go was a hell of an effort.

"We were not happy with the way things went against Munster so this was a big victory for us, especially as the performance was very good."

The victory took Ulster back to the top of the Magners League and McCall hopes they can kick on from this.

But he warned that there is still work to be done and he admitted Ulster were very disappointed to concede so many scores late in the game.

"I don't think their late scores should take the gloss off what was a comprehensive victory, " he added.

Connacht coach Michael Bradley did not dispute the outcome, but he was disappointed with Connacht's performance in the second half.

"We did very well in the first half when facing the wind. Our defence was excellent and they did not manage to score for over half an hour. We felt we were in a good position at half time, 10 points was not too much given the wind. But they were better at carrying the ball into the wind and added a couple of tries, " he said.

Those tries from Isaac Boss and Bryn Cunningham sealed the issue with David Humphreys and then Paddy Wallace, after the former Irish out-half went off, landing near impossible conversions from the left touchline into the teeth of the wind.

Connacht, who had three players binned, never gave up and the introduction of out-half Paul Warwick energised their side as they came with a late flourish.

"Last week we were unfortunate not to get anything out of Leinster. We were level with five or six minutes left, three points adrift in stoppage time and ended up losing by 16. This time round we got a bonus point when it did not seem on. Fair play to the boys, they did not give up. It shows what can be achieved when you just keep plugging away, " said Bradley.

There were seven minutes remaining when Warwick cut through for a fine try, adding the points to make it 24-7.

Then as the game slipped into stoppage time Warwick hacked down the left wing and Matt Mostyn had the pace to make the touchdown for his third try of the campaign. Warwick added the points from the left to leave 10 between them. Connacht still refused to throw in the towel and forced a penalty from just inside halfway, which Warwick slotted with the last kick of the game to snatch an unlikely bonus point.

"It was great to get something out of the game. It just shows you should never give up. We are disappointed to lose, but we will take the positives from the game and move on, " said Bradley.

Ulster will feel their hopes of becoming the first side to win successive titles is firmly back on track.

"We will just take it a game at a time and see where it takes us. There is no point in looking too far down the line, " added McCall.