Brutal, just brutal.

Glasgow's unbeaten run was never going to last the whole season, but this result will still hurt them to the core. They were bullied out of things up front, took a savage toll on the injury front, and then had salty ignominy rubbed into their wounded pride as two late Ulster tries embarrassed a Warriors defence that had been drawing nothing but praise until now.

Glasgow had faced a few challenges on the five-game winning streak that preceded their arrival in Belfast, but they had not had to deal with an arm-wrestle. That, though, was exactly what they got from an Ulster pack in which Rory Best was a magnificent leader at hooker and Nick Williams a beast of a No 8. Some of what Williams got up to was hugely questionable, but his physicality was awesome.

This should serve as a huge wake-up call for the Warriors ahead of next weekend's European Cup clash with Bath at Scotstoun. However, they must know that Bath will study the frailties of their scrum and maul intently in the build-up to that game. The word from the Ulster camp last night was their training focus had been almost exclusively on mauling, and Bath might now direct their efforts into the same area.

Glasgow can make excuses in other areas. They suffered disruption before the start when Peter Murchie suffered a late illness and had to withdraw a few hours before the game, and they took a heavy injury toll throughout the match. Fortunately, the one that looked worst, when Mark Bennett was given lengthy treatment on the pitch before being taken off on a stretcher, proved to be less alarming than first thought, as the centre was up and walking soon afterwards.

Glasgow coach Gregor Townsend suggested afterwards that Bennett had been "choke tackled" and that he had lost consciousness as a result. The incident is likely to come under close scrutiny in the days ahead, and Glasgow officials may well decide to take it further. In the immediate aftermath, however, the most important aspect was that Bennett seemed to have made a quick recovery.

It is far from clear whether Glasgow will do the same. Aside from the bruises their bodies sustained, their confidence must have taken a hefty dent as well. They had been scoring tries for fun in the build-up to this match, but they never really threatened to get across the Ulster whitewash. Overall, it was a worryingly thin performance.

"We knew that we needed to play at our best to win," said Townsend. "Ulster were on form tonight. We will have to be better next week because Bath are one of the form teams in Europe. There are areas we know we need to work on. We need to get better and better through a game so we finish strong."

In contrast to Glasgow, Ulster's confidence grew the longer the game went on. They made a bit of a dog's breakfast of pushing home their advantage in the third quarter, but Bennett's departure, in the wake of the injury that had removed Peter Horne a few minutes earlier, was one disruption too far for Glasgow, and Ulster finally got their deserts in the minutes remaining.

Yet the scoreline of 15-9 in Ulster's favour just before Bennett left unquestionably flattered Glasgow. They had stuck in well enough in the first half, but Ulster's strength in the tight was the game's most significant factor. It brought the home side three of their four penalties in the first half, and there was a distinct impression even then that Glasgow were hanging on Ulster's coat tails.

Glasgow lost Leone Nakarawa to a soft yellow card shortly before the break, and they did well to hold Ulster to 3-3 during that period. Finn Russell had landed two penalties during the first quarter, and the third came just before Nakarawa's return. At that stage, Glasgow still had the game in their grasp, but it slipped away in the wake of Bennett's departure.

The first blow came in the 66th minute, when Craig Gilroy seized the ball behind a maul near the 22 and weaved a mesmerising path through to score in the right corner. Four minutes later, Euan Murray fumbled the ball near halfway and Tommy Bowe grabbed it and raced 55 metres for the second touchdown.

It was a twist of the knife for Glasgow, and it could be argued that they were nowhere near 20 points worse than Ulster. At the same time, they were nowhere near winning this game either.