Cardiff had the edge in the tight but the Scarlets defence kept them at bay. Read more: Ospreys v Leinster live updates The Scarlets hit Cardiff with a period of sustained pressure early on which forced the hosts into conceding a penalty. Some quick thinking from Dane Blacker, who took a quick tap, caught the hosts napping with the lively scrum-half touching down for the opening try. Cardiff were soon reduced to 14 men when second-row Lopeti Timani received a yellow card for making direct contact with the head of Joe Roberts, with more than a few feeling that Joy Neville's decision should have been a red card given the Australia international had hit the young centre's head with force. World Rugby are rightly attempting to cut down on head injuries but such inconsistencies are doing them no favours as they look to limit the risk of concussions. The Scarlets made the most of their numerical advantage with Tongan second-row Sam Lousi having a field day with his offloading game. He was involved in the Scarlets' second try as he combined with Vaea Fifita who offloaded out of contact with Leigh Halfpenny and Aaron Shingler putting Johnny McNicholl over at the far right-hand corner.
Jarrod Evans added the extras meaning the Scarlets held a 19-10 lead at the interval. The Scarlets began the second half strongly with Halfpenny extending their lead to 12 points with a successful penalty after Cardiff were penalised at the scrum. But they were forced to dig deep when loosehead prop Steffan Thomas got shown a yellow for a high tackle on Thomas Young. Cardiff proceeded to lay siege to the Scarlets line and the visitors couldn't withstand their ball carriers with Rhys Carre powering over from short-range for a try which Evans converted. But Halfpenny made it a two-score game again as he nailed yet another penalty attempt. Cardiff got back to within two points after a perfectly-weighted cross-kick from Ben Thomas allowed Josh Adams to score at the corner.
Halfpenny kicked a further penalty for the visitors but they were forced to dig deep, especially after Aaron Shingler was sent to the sin bin for a stamp. But Cardiff failed to break the Scarlets' resistance with Dwayne Peel's side holding out for a significant victory. Cardiff: 15. Liam Williams, 14. Owen Lane, 13. Rey Lee-Lo, 12. Ben Thomas, 11. Josh Adams, 10. Jarrod Evans, 9. Tomos Williams, 1. Rhys Carré, 2.