SCARLETS SECURE FIRST WIN OF SEASON AGAINST REIGNING CHAMPIONS By Helen ‘Helzbach’ Davies

Following a start to the season that can at best be described as ‘indifferent’ the Scarlets are back in Parc y Scarlets ready to face the reigning Champions, Connacht. The only consolation for Scarlets fans, who are still awaiting the first league points of the season, is that Connacht are in a slightly worse predicament as they are currently bottom of the Pro 12, with the Scarlets just a place ahead.

Weather conditions coupled with the unusual 9.35pm Saturday evening kick-off saw a very poor crowd brave the elements in support of their chosen team.

The Scarlets were offered an early opportunity to put some points on the board, with Full Back Aled Thomas taking on the kicking duties, however, his kick was off-target.

After gaining good field position, the home team worked the ball among the forwards and thanks to a penalty, looked to gain some reward from their visit into the Connacht 22, however Thomas’ attempt hit the post bringing play back to half way. A steal at the line-out saw the Scarlets back in opposition territory and another penalty attempt for Thomas. Unfortunately, it was not the case of ‘third time lucky’ and the game remained score-less when the Scarlets should have picked up a 9-0 lead.

Despite the majority of the possession, it was Connacht that scored the first try of the evening, with Wing Niyi Adeolokun squeezing over in the corner. The tricky touch-line conversion was missed to give the visitors a 0 points to 5 lead.

A huge penalty kick saw the Scarlets back in the Connacht half with the backs lining up in an attempt to immediately cancel out the Connacht try. Their decision to kick for the corner was thwarted by the strength of Patchell’s kick that saw Connacht back in control once more.

The abysmal kicking display continued with Connacht missing a simple penalty that would have seen them increase their lead, giving a total of 5 out of 5 missed kicks.

The Scarlets faithful finally had something to cheer about when Liam ‘Sanjay’ Williams crossed under the posts. Rhys Patchell added the conversion to give the Scarlets the lead at last…7 points to 5.

However, with the Scarlets straying off-side, Connacht were offered an easy attempt to regain the lead with Outside Half Jack Carty giving his team a slender advantage of 7 points to 8 as half time approached.

The Scarlets, despite not being in possession at the line-out had perfect field position to launch an attack early in the second half. Securing the line-out was the easy part as the Connacht defence held firm, though Steff Evans was able to break through before being brought down and penalised inches from the whitewash.

As conditions deteriorated handling conditions became almost impossible, the Scarlet backline finally began to show glimpses of what they are capable of as they began to string passes together and break through the Connacht defence. However, as had become almost ‘the norm’ the final scoring pass has eluded, causing huge frustration among the Scarlets faithful.

Liam Williams attempted to take full use of the slippery conditions to slide in in the corner, however he timed his dive a little too early and was inches short of grounding the ball before he slid into touch.

Taking full advantage of their field position, deep in the Connacht 22, the Scarlets and despite crossing the try line were unable to ground the ball, offering the home team a Scrum v. On this occasion Sanjay timed the grounding of the ball to perfection, and the TMO confirmed that the try was to be awarded to put the Scarlets back ahead. Patchell added the touch-line conversion to give the home team a 14 points to 8 lead with just over 10 minutes remaining in the match.

Quick thinking from Steffan Evans almost saw try number 3, however he had just put a foot in touch before the ball was grounded. Patchell, however, ensured that the Scarlets didn’t leave that particular visit into opposition territory without any reward as he added a drop goal to increase his team’s lead to 17 points to 8.

Immense defence from the Scarlets saw Connacht, despite being in possession being forced back into their 22 as the home team attempted to play down the clock to secure their first victory and first league points of the season.

Finally, the whistle was blown and the Scarlets were able to secure their first victory of the season, 17 points to 8.

Next Saturday the Scarlets travel to Italy to face Treviso, kick off is at 8.05pm.