Scarlets go down to Cardiff Blues in LV= Cup

Scarlets did not have the best of times at Parc y Scarlets on Saturday as they lost 23-38 to rivals Cardiff Blues in the Anglo Welsh LV= Cup , even after leading for much of the game.

The Welsh encounter took a while to warm up and the first points came on the half hour. Flyhalf Rees Priestland scored and converted the try for the home side to break the deadlock.

The Blues leveled the scores in the 34th minute when Tom Shanklin scored a try and Ben Blair converted, but Lee Williams crossed the line for Scarlets minutes later to lead again. Priestland missed the conversion so the score remained 12-7.

David Lyons added another try for the home side on the stroke of half time, but Priestland again missed the conversion and they went into the break on 17-7.

Cardiff came out strongly in the second half, with Casey Laulala scoring his side’s second try in the 44th minute. The kicking duties were still handed to Ben Blair and he made no mistake with the conversion to reduce the gap to three points.

The visitors took the lead for the first time in the 50th minute when Laulala scored his second try. Blair added the extras as the score jumped to 21-17 to Cardiff, much to the displeasure of the home fans. Taufa’ao Filise also added his name to the score sheet in the 56th minute and Blair again converted.

Priestland reduced the gap to eight points in the 63rd minute with a penalty and another five minutes later, leaving the score on 28-23 to the visitors.

Cardiff sealed the deal in the 78th minute when Paul Tito added yet another try, which Blair converted, before the latter added a penalty on the stroke of full time to add insult to injury.

Teams

Scarlets: Evans, Williams, Maule, King, Fenby, Priestland, Knoyle, John, Owen, Manu, Reed, Welch, McCusker, Turnbull, Lyons

Replacements: Thomas, Phillips, Thomas, Cooper, Edwards, Roberts, Newton

Cardiff Blues: Blair, Thomas, Laulala, shanklin, James, Sweeney, Allinson, filise, Thomas, Powell, Jones, Tito, Molitika, Warburton, Rush

Replacements: James, Andres, George, Morgan, Pretorius, Slater, Norton-Knight