Spirited Scarlets see off Ulster for second PRO12 win of season
Last Updated: 13/09/15 8:38am
Scarlets did not let three yellow cards stop them from recording a 22-12 victory over Ulster in the Guinness PRO12.
Peter Edwards, John Barclay and George Earle all spent 10 minutes in the sin-bin for different offences during the game, but error-strewn Ulster were unable to capitalise on the advantage as they suffered a frustrating away defeat at Parc y Scarlets.
Scarlets played an expansive game, but their scrum was superb and 14 points from the boot of Dan Jones ensured they were ticking over on the scoreboard. Winger Hadleigh Parkes scored the lone try for the hosts.
Ulster had all of the possession in the first half, but still ended up going into the break nine points down and scoreless.
The Irish side had 61 per cent of the possession and had won 11 lineouts to the Scarlets' one, but the Scarlets' defence ensured their line was unbroken - though they were aided by a series of handling errors and a missed kick at goal from Ulster inside centre Stuart McCloskey.
Scarlets, on the other hand, were able to rely on Jones from the tee, and he made the visitors pay when they fell foul of the referee three times in the first period.
There were moments of attack that almost promised tries for the home side, one of which was referred to the TMO for a possible score, but Tom Williams was in touch before scoring.
Late in the first half there were two no-arm tackles put in by Scarlets, and after a warning from the referee the second earned Edwards a yellow card.
In the second half, Jones missed a shot at goal early on for the Scarlets, but Parkes was on hand to ensure his side were first to score anyway when an overlap gave him the space down the left-hand touchline to score in the corner.
Jones converted, giving his side a 16-0 lead before another yellow card, this time for Barclay for slowing the ball down, had them down a man for the second time.
Ulster scored shortly afterwards through Craig Gilroy, but the touchline conversion was crucially missed.
It sparked a period of immense pressure from the visitors, who attacked the Scarlets line with renewed purpose, eventually leading to a penalty try and a yellow card for George Earle to get them within seven points in the final 10 minutes.
However, Ulster were unable to pile on any more points, and after James Davies won Scarlets a penalty in the final minute, Aled Thomas stepped up to rob Ulster of the bonus point with the final penalty of the day.
