Scarlets 16 Ulster 13
Ulster battled hard but ultimately lost ground on their Guinness Pro 12 play-off rivals after a narrow defeat in wet and windy West Wales.
Jacob Stockdale’s first-half try and eight points from the boot of the irrepressible Paddy Jackson looked to have earned Ulster only their second away win in the league since September.
But a Sean Reidy’s high tackle on the try-line surrendered a penalty try to hand the Welsh region a perhaps undeserved victory to put themselves seven points clear of Les Kiss’ side.
Ulster are playing catchup despite a valiant performance. Iain Henderson and Stuart McCloskey both led the charge but they now rely on a slip-up from Glasgow Warriors or their Welsh conquerers if they are to get back in the mix for a semi-final spot.
But first are European Rugby Champions Cup matches against Exeter Chiefs and Bordeaux-Begles,where two bonus-point wins will still probably not be enough to qualify.
Jackson had returned to strengthen the Ulstermen in West Wales, but his charged down kick in the fourth minute almost gifted the Scarlets an early lead.
Opposite number Dan Jones blocked the chip and hacked on, but Jackson did just enough to recover and force a knock-on just before the Ulster line.
Another of their front-line reinforcements, Rory Best, handed Jones the chance to give the hosts the advantage when he went off his feet at a ruck, and the Wales Under-20 international made no mistake from the kicking tee.
He added a second penalty moments later to make it 6-0, before Jake Ball became the first victim of World Rugby’s high tackle directive, and Jackson landed the resulting penalty to cut the gap to three points.
Some passive Welsh defending allowed Ulster to hit the front after 21 minutes. The Ulster pack shunted the Scarlets back at a scrum before McCloskey made a half-break in between James Davies and Liam Williams.
The bullocking centre offloaded to Stockdale to score, and Jackson converted to make it 10-6, and he added a penalty on the stroke of half-time for a seven point advantage at half-time.
Their half-time lead was soon reigned in though as Marius Mitrea lost patience with the defensive line creeping forward.
Jones made it three kicks from three before the hosts wrestled back the lead with a penalty try.
Replacement scrum-half Aled Davies looked to have been held-up over the line, but on review he had been stopped by a Sean Reidy high tackle, and Mitrea awarded a penalty try.
The Ulster number eight was sent to the sin-bin to add insult to injury, but Ball soon followed him off for 10 minutes on the sidelines after a high shot of his own.
Neither side could muster a score during the sin-bin period, even after some persistent attacking from Ulster.
Jackson darted through but only found Scarlets prop Rob Evans with his offload, and the home side survived.
Ulster had one last chance to snatch victory at Parc Y Scarlets with a scrum deep in enemy territory in the final throws of the match but the ball was spilled in slippery conditions and the West Walians held on to cement their place among the play-off contenders.
Scorers - Scarlets: Penalty try (62 mins), D Jones 3 pens, 1 con.
Ulster: Stockdale try (21 mins), P Jackson 2 pens, 1 con.
Scarlets: J Mcnicholl; L Williams, Jo Davies, H Parkes, S Evans; D Jones, G Davies; R Evans, K Owens (capt), W Kruger, J Ball, T Price, L Rawlins, Ja Davies, J Barclay. Replacements: R Elias for Owens (69 mins), W Jones for R Evans 69), W Boyde for Rawlins (34 mins), A Davies for G Davies (40 mins), A Thomas for, S Hughes for L Williams (74 mins).
Ulster: L Ludik, A Trimble (capt), L Marshall, S McCloskey, J Stockdale; P Jackson, P Marshall; C Black, R Best, R Kane, K Treadwell, I Henderson, C Ross, C Henry, S Reidy. Replacements: J Andrew for, A Warwick for C Black (51 mins), J Simpson for R Kane (56 mins), F van der Merwe for C Ross (74 mins), D Shanahan for P Marshall (54 mins), T Bowe for J Stockdale (74 mins).
Referee: Marius Mitrea (Italy)
