Scarlets strengthen chances of play-off qualification with 17-35 win over Bath

Bath Rugby 17-35 Scarlets, Recreation Ground
Scorecard

Scarlets' chances of making it to the quarter-final of the European Champions Cup has taken a big boost after they went on beat Bath Rugby 17-35 at Recreation Ground on Friday.

The win has taken Scarlets to top of Pool 5 with 17 points while Bath are at second with 13 points.

Rhys Priestland, who kicked all of Bath's points when they beat the Scarlets in west Wales three months ago, departed just four minutes into the contest and was replaced by Freddie Burns.

It was Scarlets, who got their first points when Tadhg Beirne crossed over in the 10th minute that was converted by Dan Jones. A 21st minute sin-bin to John Barclay saw Bath open their account with a penalty from Burns that reduced the gap between the two teams to four points.

But despite being one man less, Scarlets scored two more tries through Paul Asquith and Hadleigh Parkes while a penalty and a conversion from Jones increased their lead to 3-22.

After the restart, Scott Williams further extended Scarlets' lead with a 51st minute that was improved by Jones and finally Todd Blackadder's men showed some resilience in the final quarter with tries from Matt Banahan (57') and Zach Mercer (73') but two more penalties from Jones helped Scarlets complete a convincing 18 point victory.