Scarlets overcome Dragons in thriller
Stephen Jones was in great form today
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Thursday, 01, Jan 2009 09:18
Fly-half Stephen Jones kicked 19 points as the Scarlets overcame rivals Newport-Gwent Dragons 29-24 at the Parc y Scarlets.
The hosts trailed 17-10 at half-time after Richard Fussell scored two first-half tries for the Dragons, in reply to a try from Regan King for the Scarlets.
But the Scarlets came roaring back in the second-half and scored a crucial try from Phil John, before Jones stole the show with four successful penalties in a row as the Scarlets took the points.
It was the Scarlets who started the brighter of the two teams and King superbly evaded two tackles to burst over the try-line. Jones added the conversion and then kicked a simple penalty to give his side a commanding 10-0 lead.
The Scarlets looked to be in complete control, but that all changed thanks to tries from Fussell in the space of 11 first-half minutes. Shaun Connor was successful with both conversion attempts and added a late first-half penalty as the Dragons headed in to the break with a seven point lead.
Connor had an opportunity to increase the lead for the Dragons to 10 points, but missed a penalty at the start of the second-half.
The miss gave the Scarlets a reprieve and they came back with a bang. First John bundled over the try-line and Jones added the two extra points to make the scores level. And from that point it was the Jones show as he kicked four successful penalties to give his side a 12-point lead.
The Dragons were left fighting for a losing bonus point and they managed to get that when Connor went over for a try and then added the extra two points.