Nigel Davies felt the Scarlets players didn’t get their ‘just rewards’ from another frustrating derby day.
A 75th-minute try from player-of-the-match Jac Morgan denied the Scarlets a gutsy comeback win at the Brewery Field.
“I thought we stuck in it well,” said Davies, speaking to the media in the wake of the 27-20 defeat.
“In the first half, the penalty count was probably fair enough because we were under a bit of pressure in the scrum, but we turned that around in the second half.
“I couldn’t have asked for more from my players, the way they responded when down to 13 players was outstanding. We played a lot of rugby and squandered a couple of chances.
“I am proud of the boys, they are showing the standards we are asking for – the astounding stat for me was the 21-4 penalty count against. We target 10 or less.
“In a derby game where every breakdown, every moment, is contested fiercely, to have that sort of penalty count is just unheard of.”
Davies added: “There was a key moment midway through the second half when we attacked and got right under the posts, for me that was a clear penalty (to Scarlets) and a yellow card because the guy didn’t get up off his feet.
“We were not getting those decisions and it was such a key moment.
“It was hugely frustrating and, as I said, I can’t ask for any more from the players
“They gave everything that they had and unfortunately didn’t get their just rewards.”
Scarlets sign off their campaign with another Welsh derby at Parc y Scarlets on Saturday when they host Dragons RFC.
“We go again,” added Davies. “We are showing the type of rugby and the game that we want to play.
“We are getting to be a little bit more difficult to beat and we can take a lot of that into the next game and into next season.”