A late Dan Jones penalty saw Scarlets claim a 10-10 draw with Conference B pace-setters Leinster in their PRO14 game at Parc y Scarlets.
Leinster therefore remain top by three points with Scarlets on their tail after a hard-fought share of the spoils in this re-arranged match.
Incredibly the top two sides in their Conference couldn't trouble the scoreboard in the opening half as the game was deadlocked at 0-0.
Conditions didn't help on that front as a slippery ball made it tough to string phases of play together, despite both sides' best efforts.
The lowlight of the half was seeing Leinster back-row Sean O'Brien leave the field after 27 minutes holding his left arm after a collision.
Scarlets did think they had opened the scoring two minutes later though when full-back Tom Williams stepped his way over the try-line. But following input from the television match official, replays showed the ball had separated from his grasp on the line, denying him the try.
Coming out for the second-half it took just five minutes for the duck to be broken at Parc y Scarlets, with Leinster prop Ed Byrne forcing his way over from one metre out. Ross Byrne slotted the conversion to make it a 7-0 buffer for the visitors with Scarlets needing a response.
They had a chance to cut the gap down to four points when Scott Fardy was penalised for offside, but Jones was off-target from the tee. He could not make amends shortly after too as he struck the upright with an effort from in front, with Scarlets then opting for the line-out.
Eventually their dominance resulted in points as, despite strong Leinster defence, the Scarlets fought their way back downfield via a maul before centre Paul Asquith powered his way over, spotting a dogleg in defence. Jones this time nailed the conversion to level the game.
But the lead was shortlived as Leinster fly-half Byrne nudged his side back in front at 10-7 with a beautiful penalty goal from out wide.
Leinster were denied their second try due to an offside from a charged-down kick, which handed the Scarlets hope of snatching victory. And despite not being able secure the game-winning score as Tom Varndell was deemed to knock-on, Jones did send over a late leveller.
The scorers:
For Scarlets:
Try: Asquith
Con: Jones
Pen: Jones
For Leinster:
Try: E Byrne
Con: R Byrne
Pen: R Byrne
Scarlets: 15 Tom Williams, 14 Ioan Nicholas, 13 Paul Asquith, 12 Steff Hughes (c), 11 Ryan Conbeer, 10 Dan Jones, 9 Jonathan Evans, 8 Will Boyde, 7 Josh Macleod, 6 Tadhg Beirne, 5 David Bulbring, 4 Steve Cummins, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Ryan Elias, 1 Phil Price
Replacements: 16 Emyr Phillips, 17 Rhys Fawcett, 18 Simon Gardiner, 19 Josh Helps, 20 Lewis Rawlins, 21 Declan Smith, 22 Ioan Hughes, 23 Tom Varndell
Leinster: 15 Dave Kearney, 14 Barry Daly, 13 Rory O’Loughlin, 12 Noel Reid, 11 James Lowe, 10 Ross Byrne, 9 Nick McCarthy, 8 Jack Conan, 7 Seán O’Brien (c), 6 Josh Murphy, 5 Scott Fardy, 4 Ross Molony, 3 Michael Bent, 2 Bryan Byrne, 1 Ed Byrne
Replacements: 16 James Tracy, 17 Peter Dooley, 18 Adam Coyle, 19 Mick Kearney, 20 Max Deegan, 21 Charlie Rock, 22 Ciarán Frawley, 23 Adam Byrne
Referee: Nigel Owens
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