Llanelli Scarlets 22 Ulster 9
A second-half try by prop Phil John earned Llanelli Scarlets a crucial Celtic League victory over Ulster in a scrappy Stradey Park encounter last night.
John powered over in the 68th minute and with outhalf Gareth Bowen finding his kicking boots in the second half, the defending champions claimed only their fourth league win of the season.
The last time these two sides met at Stradey both were battling it out in a title decider for the Celtic crown.
Since May though, both have struggled to recapture that form and were languishing in the bottom half of the table prior to kick-off.
The Scarlets started positively with skipper Garan Evans and scrum-half Mike Phillips prominent.
However, they were unable to make a glut of possession pay, with Bowen struggling in front of goal.
The 25-year-old missed with his first four penalty attempts, while opposite number Adam Larkin found his range to give Ulster an early advantage with two well-struck penalties.
Bowen finally landed a penalty at his fifth attempt from straight in front, but it was all the home side could muster from a frustrating opening period that also saw Scarlets lock Chris Wyatt and Ulster flanker Neil Best sin-binned.
Larkin and Bowen swapped penalties as the second period continued in a similar vein to the whistle-stop first with Bowen then levelling matters on 54 minutes after Evans had been tackled late.
Bowen was certainly redeeming himself after his early misses and made it 12-9 soon after when Ulster, not for the first time, were penalised for offside.
Then came the game-clinching try on 68 minutes with John rounding off a powerful forward surge and Bowen adding the extras.
The outhalf landed his fifth penalty in injury time to seal the win and help the Scarlets move ahead of Cardiff Blues in the race for European qualification.