Scarlets bounce back

The Scarlets shrugged off their Christmas defeat to Ospreys on Saturday by beating Newport Gwent Dragons 21-15 in their Magners League match at Parc y Scarlets.

Rhys Priestland scored 16 points as the Scarlets moved back up to second place in the league, although the Dragons did earn themselves a losing bonus point.

The home side were looking for a response to the 60-17 thrashing they were handed in Swansea on Monday and coach Nigel Davies brought in number eight David Lyons and scrum-half Tavis Knoyle, as well as handing Jonathan Davies a start - the centre having recovered from an ankle injury.

Despite the Dragons having Aled Brew sin-binned though, the Scarlets still found themselves 10-3 down at half-time.

The match had been tied at 3-3 since the 17th minute, Priestland and Jason Tovey having exchanged penalties during the first quarter.

The Dragons gained more territory at that stage but the Scarlets still had better chances to take the lead.

They were missing them though, with Priestland missing two penalty attempts and a try also being ruled out by the television match official after full-back Dan Newton was held up over the line by Dragons wing Adam Hughes.

The Scarlets' hopes of going in at half-time with the lead were raised when Brew picked up a yellow card after kicking Gareth Maule.

But it was the Gwent side who scored first in injury time after a show and go by scrum-half Wayne Evans sent Tovey down the wing.

Delicate

He then produced a delicate little cross kick to send Evans over by the posts.

However, the home side levelled the scores just 64 seconds into the second half when Maule crossed after good work by Davies - the Dragons having failed to secure the kick-off.

There was more bad news for the visitors when back-rower Gavin Thomas was sin-binned for persistent infringements at the breakdown.

Priestland was therefore allowed to kick a penalty which put the Scarlets into the lead for the first time on 46 minutes.

But the Scarlets were unable to really put the squeeze on their opponents and they lost a man of their own after 64 minutes when centre Davies was sin-binned.

The Dragons missed a golden opportunity to level the match on 71 minutes when Tovey missed a straightforward penalty attempt - much to the delight of the home crowd.

And the Scarlets made the most of the error as Priestland raced over for his side's second try after good work by replacement centre Regan King and Davies.

As the match entered injury time, Brew cut the deficit to three points with a try after a kick ahead by Tovey, but there was still time for a third Priestland penalty to seal the win.