Stradey finishes on a high

Llanelli Scarlets drew down the curtain on 129 years of rugby at Stradey Park with a 27-0 victory over Bristol in the EDF Energy Cup.

On a predictably emotional occasion, the Scarlets sent a capacity crowd home from the famous old stadium warmed by a victory on closing night, but this result is also important in terms of the side's season.

After making poor starts in the Magners League and Heineken Cup, this may be the Scarlets' only chance for some silverware and victory set up a Pool D decider against Northampton next week.

There was really only one winner from the outset and much of the interest was supplied by what sort of performance the Scarlets would put on for their final match here, and how many points they would put on Bristol.

The answer was that at times Scarlets played some superb handling rugby, but they failed to put a half century on the Englishmen due to some bombed try-scoring opportunities and some excellent defence from a side on the back foot almost the entire night.

Scarlets went ahead inside three minutes as Regan King burst up the centre and full-back Morgan Stoddart was on hand to take the pass and sprint over by the sticks.

Dominance

Stephen Jones added the extras and then a penalty after 15 minutes, but for all their dominance, Scarlets looked set to head in at half-time with just a 10-point lead.

But in the closing minutes of the half a storming run from Mark Jones set up position for his forwards and Simon Easterby was able to sneak over by the side of a ruck, although it took the video referee to spot that a try had indeed been scored.

Stoddart and Daffyd Jones both narrowly failed to extend the lead in the same right-hand corner early in the second half and Jones was content to knock over another penalty for offside - reward for yet more Scarlets pressure - to make it 20-0.

Matt Turner's superb try-saving tackle - again in the right corner - denied Stoddart yet again on the hour, but the full-back made amends two minutes later as his brilliant off-load put Rob Higgitt in at the corner.

Wales winger Mark Jones - who was later forced off with a knee injury - was also denied a try right on the line by more excellent defence, and the longed-for final flourish never came.

On a practical level, Scarlets also missed out on a bonus point, which could be crucial to qualification.

But this night was really about leaving Stradey Park on a winning note and in that sense it was very much mission accomplished for Scarlets.