David Humphreys’ final game in an Ulster shirt and the departure of several other fans’ favourites tended to take the headlines.

Indeed, when I was asked what the final scoreline in the game against Cardiff Blues was, I had to actually pause and think, before I could answer.

It was 26-17 against and maybe it was just as well we had something else to take our focus off the 80-plus minutes.

But there is no getting away from the fact that Ulster produced another average performance for the second successive week and contrived to lose a game they should have won.

Matt Williams had a face on him like thunder afterwards and a second playback off the match shows clearly why.

Ulster fell off tackles, made basic fundamental errors and reverted back to a game of individuals doing what they wanted.

Four missed tackles against Glasgow yielded four end of season gifts for the Scottish visitors who enjoyed a win over Munster in Cork in their final fling.

And some poor tackling aided Cardiff Blues’ four tries in securing their first ever win in Belfast against Ulster in the Magners League.

Perhaps if Humphreys, and a host of other household names in the Province, had not been moving on, a crowd close on 10,000 would not have been at Ravenhill.

There was little against Connacht, Munster and Glasgow which would have attracted the non die-hard supporter to Ulster headquarters for the final game of the season.

In a year which saw Leinster clinch the Magners League title and Munster reach the European Cup final (again), there is a fear the gulf between the top two Irish Provinces is growing and Ulster and Connacht have a lot of work to do in catching up.

At Ulster, the ‘work in progress’ signs remain up. While quite a few talented players are moving on, the indications are that Williams has secured the services of some top quality players to take the Province forward.

With that will come an expectancy of big things to come in the new season. But it may not be until 2009/10 that the rewards will be realised.

Perhaps the current crop of players had one eye on the beach and one eye on the game as a difficult season drew to a close, but there were few positives to be taken out of the last fortnight of the campaign looking ahead of a new one.

Williams is making his mark on the Ulster side having come in midway through last season.

Being among the also rans is no longer acceptable. Ulster fans expect the Province to be battling for a Magners League title at the end of the season and in 2008/09, challenging seriously for a knockout place in Europe.

The new season can hardly come soon enough.