Gareth Davies help Scarlets edge out Ospreys 18-19

Ospreys 18 - 19 Scarlets, Swansea

Gareth Davies scored a double as Scarlets edged out Ospreys with an 18-19 victory in the Wales derby Pro 14 encounter in Swansea on Saturday.

Scarlets suffered a late blow when Leigh Halfpenny was ruled out of the game and Johnny McNicholl switched to fullback and Paul Asquith gained a promotion from the bench.

Dan Biggar opened Ospreys' account with a 16th-minute penalty and as the half time was quite approaching, Scarlets suffered a setback when Tadhg Beirne was sin-binned.

Biggar slotted two more penalties as Ospreys ended the first half with a 9-0 lead. Scarlets had an opportunity to get off the mark but fly-half Rhys Patchell missed a couple of penalties.

Davies scored the first of his two tries in the 42nd minute and seven minutes later he crossed over for the second time and despite two more penalties from Biggar, the defending champions had a 15-19 lead at the end of 62 minutes after Scarlets prop Samson Lee also strolled past the post.

Biggar's sixth penalty came in the 66th minute as the gap between the two teams got reduced to just one point but Ospreys could not quite press forward as they succumbed to a one point defeat.