But the game exploded 10 minutes later when Joel Tomkins and Kirk Yeaman traded blows following an off-the-ball incident.
Smith was also upset by the antics of Lafferty, who clutched his face after the off-the-ball incident with Mulgrew.
McGowan was red carded following an apparent off-the-ball altercation with Manuel Pascali, which occurred in the aftermath of Dayton's injury.
Derry were then reduced to 10 men when Gary Beckett was sent off following an off-the-ball incident in the 80th minute.
The move backfired in spectacular fashion as Harris was sent off just two minutes into the second-half after an off-the-ball clash with Aron Gunnarsson.
Albert Watson headed in from a Philip Carson free-kick on 36 minutes but O'Neill was sent-off for an off-the-ball clash with Eamon Doherty after 42.
Federico Pucciariello and Matt McCullough were yellow-carded after an off-the-ball clash and Kieron Dawson was sin-binned minutes later as Ulster were reduced to 13 men.
The game was always close to boiling over, and Lukas Podolski went down after an off-the-ball clash with Rene Aufhauser, then went eyeball to eyeball with Emanuel Pogatetz.
The half was marred by a big fight involving both sets of players after an off-the-ball incident which saw Lupton and Rovers' Ben Cockayne warned by referee Robert Hicks.
Wasps centre Steve Kefu had just fired a kick directly into touch when Robson became embroiled in an off-the-ball scuffle and aimed a head-butt at Wasps scrum-half Joe Simpson.
However, almost immediately Cavan midfielder Mark McKeever received a straight red card after an off-the-ball incident and Down used their man advantage to reply with three quick scores to level.
Brown's 66th-minute dismissal for an off-the-ball clash with Rangers' Kyle Lafferty was the main flashpoint in an absorbing contest that featured an injury-time winner by the Ibrox side's Maurice Edu.
Portugal, semi-finalists in Germany four years ago, had Ricardo Costa sent off for an off-the-ball clash with Joan Capdevila before the end but by then their fate already looked sealed.
There was more drama for the bumper 1, 425 crowd to witness when Bath midfielder Mark Badman and Chelmsford's Ricky Modeste were both dismissed following an off-the-ball clash nine minutes from time.
After weeks without rugby, Thomas may want to forget an embarrassing moment against Munster on Saturday evening at Rodney Parade, when an off-the-ball tug on Donnacha Ryan cost Dragons scrum-half Wayne Evans a try.
Both Zidane and Marco Materazzi found the net in the 2006 final in Germany between France and Italy, but it was the pair's off-the-ball clash deep into extra time that became the tournament's defining moment.
Midway through the first half Davis was booked for a foul on Andrej Komac and referee Eduardo Iturralde Gonzalez had his yellow card out soon afterwards to caution Lafferty and Bostjan Cesar after an off-the-ball incident at a free-kick.
Stephen Jones' kick-off epitomised the Scarlets' season thus far - off kilter as the ball ran dead, bringing a scrum on half-way at which the Wales fly-half must have been relieved to see a free kick awarded against Ulster.
But it was the briefest of honeymoons for Cook, lasting only until the last ball of the eighth over, when he played a half-hearted force off the back foot to a ball well wide of off-stump - and to the delight of the bowler Hilfenhaus, Michael Hussey dived expertly in the gully to take a fine one-handed catch.
He picked up two quick boundaries, both off Kallis, but then attempted something a bit too inventive off the same bowler - trying to play a ball outside off-stump through the on-side.
Ankiel was credited with a ground-rule double leading off the seventh on a ball down the third-base line that appeared to glance off an usher's leg before hitting a railing.
Nicky Robinson failed with penalty attempts in the fourth and 15th minutes, the latter following Munster's Samoan-born flanker Nick Williams' sin-binning for shoulder-charging Roberts off the ball.
However, runs were not easy to come by for obdurate left-handers Katich and Hussey, given that all but one of the fielders were placed on the off-side and seamers Ishant Sharma and Zaheer made the batsmen reach for the ball wide of the off-stump.
As Hamilton pressed for an equaliser Smith did well to block Mark McLaughlin's close-range volley from Lyle's free-kick and, as half-time approached, Shaun Hutchinson cleared the ball off the goal-line after Lyle had chipped the keeper.
Perhaps unduly excited by Krejza's success, Dhoni asked Harbhajan to bowl the second over - but India's premier off-spinner could not make the ball "talk" in the way Krejza had, albeit with an older ball.
The batsmen opened up a little approaching lunch but with the interval just three balls away, the left-handed Hughes pushed forward outside the off-stump at Tremlett, despite the angle taking the ball further away from the danger area.
Then James Perch, restored to the Forest line-up after an ankle injury, nicked the ball off a goal-bound Peter Lovenkrands, who then tumbled to the floor.
Stephen Jones put in a try-saving tackle on his rival fly-half but the ball rebounded off the Scarlets man into touch and the Ospreys had a five-metre attacking line-out.
McGeady stepped inside Byrne and, just when it looked like he would look to lay it off, the midfielder drove the ball low in-off the near post.
应用推荐