Scarlets boss Nigel Davies was happy to take a 16-16 draw against Ulster in their Heineken Cup clash.
Welsh boss happy to at least stop losing, Ulster's away record continues
Scarlets boss Nigel Davies was happy to take a 16-16 draw against Ulster in their Heineken Cup clash, to end their damaging ten-match losing streak.
The Welsh side were 13-3 behind at half-time against their Irish opponents, but managed to claw their way back to rescue a 16-16 stalemate at the full-time whistle.
Stephen Jones kicked the penalty that drew the game three minutes from time at a soaking Parc y Scarlets, saving the hosts from yet another defeat.
Davies was not happy with his side's first half display, but they showed good spirit to come back and grab a draw after their recent run of form.
Disappointed
"I'm really disappointed about the first half because we played some dumb rugby and we deserved where we were. We should have got the ball in the air more," said Davies.
"A draw is better than losing, that's a fact, but I was disappointed with the first half. We should have been smarter than that.
"It's not a loss and it will be easier to build from there.
"We put a lot of pressure on ourselves in that first half. The conditions were a big factor. We tried to play from our own territory and we made lots of errors because of it.
"They got into our 22 probably twice in the first half and scored both times.
"But in the second half we played nearer what we had talked about before the game and it earned its just rewards."
Ulster run
Ulster coach Matt Williams was also a frustrated man, like his opposite number, after watching his side lose a winning position.
That meant that Ulster's very modest away record in Europe continued, and neither that run nor Friday's performance impressed Williams.
"There's an absolutely disgraceful statistic for Ulster that they have never won away in Europe apart from Italy since 2003. That's not acceptable. They have just got to keep standing up and fighting until we get past that," said Williams.
"We are very disappointed. We came out at half-time and we tried to hold the lead rather than attack it, and let them back in the game.
"Having said that we played well in the first half, scored two good tries and a lovely drop-goal (through Ian Humphreys).
"We just had to get some possession in that first 20 (minutes of the second half). But again we kicked very poorly and only got one out of five (penalties).
"At 16-13 with four minutes on the clock we should have been much smarter.
"This team are still figuring out how to win. We are winning at home, that's easy but it's on the road where we have a problem."
