Wayne Pivac admitted Steff Evans deserved to be sent off but still believed his Scarlets team earned their Boxing Day victory over the Ospreys.
An 82nd-minute try by Josh Macleod saw 14-man Scarlets edge the result 12-9 in a dramatic Guinness Pro14 derby at a rain-drenched Parc y Scarlets.
The victory – secured despite the first-half dismissal of Wales wing Evans following a dangerous challenge on opposite winger Ben John – took the hosts back to the top of Conference B.
Conversely, Ospreys remain at the bottom of Conference A and must now travel away to Rodney Parade in Round 12 on New Year’s Eve.
Sam Davies had kicked Ospreys into a 9-5 lead going into the final minutes, but Macleod collected Scott Williams’ cross-field kick to go over in the left corner and settle the derby fixture in Scarlets’ favour.
Pivac said: “The last scrum was obviously going to have to be a big play, we had a fresh front row there and to turn that ball over gave us the opportunity and from there just great composure and some great skill.
“It was a great kick by Scott Williams and for Josh Macleod – a young guy out on the wing – he was hoping that ball was going to get to him a bit quicker, but it was a great finish and obviously we were really relieved to get that win.
“[The red card tackle] was reckless, dangerous, call it what you will. It was clumsy and I’ve got no complaints about that. Steff clearly wasn’t trying to take him out but in those conditions if you commit too early you can’t put the brakes on.”
Ospreys coach Steve Tandy said: “It’s pretty disappointing losing that game. I thought tactically in the second half we were pretty good. We were in control, we felt we had the scrum and we could see the game out from there.
“But in fairness the Scarlets came back and they kept playing and got the try.
“I thought some of our scrum stuff was pretty decent until the last one. On reflection we just nudged the game but we didn’t get the win. The conditions were awful.”
Pivac’s side spent the majority of the first quarter in Ospreys’ territory but it didn’t deliver points after Halfpenny missed two early penalties.
Ospreys were forced into an change after just ten minutes when Dan Evans limped off and was replaced by Dan Biggar, the extent of the injury to their full-back is not yet known.
Uncharacteristically, Halfpenny missed his third penalty on 14 minutes but points arrived shortly after.
A knock-on from Ashley Beck provided the Scarlets with a five-metre scrum and from that Steff Evans stepped and went over the line down the blindside. Once again Halfpenny’s radar was off for the conversion attempt.
The hosts had the chance of a second try six minutes later when Gareth Davies hacked upfield after charging down a Davies kick. Johnny McNicholl picked up close to the line but Hadleigh Parkes could not gather the offload in the wet conditions.
The sending-off for Evans came three minutes from half-time when the winger clattered into John as he attempted to collect Davies’ cross-field kick. Referee Ian Davies showed Evans red after reviewing the footage and John left the field for a head injury assessment.
Davies kicked the resulting penalty which meant that the match was poised 5-3 at the break.
The second-half remained a truncated affair due to the wind and rain but Davies’ boot kept the Ospreys’ scoreboard ticking and eventually pushed them 9-5 ahead with just less than a quarter remaining.
Steve Tandy’s team hadn’t won away from home in the league since early March and look set to change that as the clock ticked into the 80th minute. However, the game wasn’t finished quite yet.
A scrum on Ospreys’ put in was won against the head by the Scarlets and that gave the hosts the field position required to mount their final attack.
The match-winning try arrived on 82 minutes when Williams’ cross-field kick landed neatly into the hands of Macleod and the Parc y Scarlets erupted.
After a difficult day off the tee, Halfpenny struck the final conversion sweetly which sealed the deal.
