In a bizarre fog-bound contest in Treviso, Scarlets came away with a deserved share of the spoils, drawing 20-20.
Both sides had opportunities to snatch the win – Macs Page crossed for a try with five minutes to go, but the conversion was missed, then Benetton had two late long-range penalty attempts that finished just short.
But for the second week running, Scarlets plucked a game from the jaws of defeat – an encouraging sign for Nigel Davies, Dwayne Peel and the coaching team.
The West Walians scored three tries through Gareth Davies, Tomi Lewis and Page in a stirring second-half display, while 18-year-old fly-half Carwyn Leggatt-Jones can be proud of his first start in the No. 10 jersey, providing assists for both the Lewis and Page scores.
It was rampaging No. 8 Fletcher Anderson, though, who picked up a deserved player-of-the-match medal after a thunderous carrying display.
Hooker Marnus van der Merwe also stood out with the ball and at the breakdown, while the scrum had the better of their Italian hosts.
Going into the round 11 match showing 12 changes from the win over Ulster, Scarlets had an early let-off when home full-back Rhyno Smith missed a straight-forward penalty off the tee.
Instead, it was Leggatt-Jones who registered his first points in a competitive match for the club with a penalty after a fearsome Scarlets scrum had won the decision deep in Benetton territory.
It needed some resolute defence on their own line to deny Benetton a driving line-out score soon after, but the hosts were able to level the scores through Smith on 24 minutes, then go ahead when the Scarlets were unfortunate to be penalised in front of the posts at the breakdown.
With Benetton dominating territory and possession, aided by Scarlets’ ill-discipline, the home side celebrated the first try of the game when former Wasps man Paolo Odogwu stepped over for a try converted by Smith.
Scarlets had a rare opportunity to reduce the deficit just before the interval, but were unable to get over from a couple of close-range line-outs and trailed 13-3 at the break.
Needing a spark at the start of second-half it was scrum-half Davies who provided it, sniping around the defence after a strong carry by Anderson. Leggatt-Jones converted. The try took the 35-year-old into joint third in the all-time URC try-scoring charts.
With dense fog having swept in at half-time, referee Andrew Brace had spoken to the captains about the possibility of abandoning the game, but they managed to play on with the threat of the result standing if it was called off after an hour.
That made Lewis’s try on 57 minutes critical, the winger taking a lovely miss pass from Leggatt-Jones to dive in at the corner. With the posts not in view, the conversion was missed from the touchline.
After that Brace checked with URC officials about possibly calling the game off, but it was decided to carry on and it made for a dramatic final quarter.
Scarlets were held up over the line as they looked to extend their line, then, with 10 minutes to go, Benetton struck following phase after phase of attacks with scrum-half Alessandro Garbisi sniping from an unguarded ruck to cross at the posts. The conversion was good to make it 20-15.
With five and a half minutes left on the clock, Scarlets struck again for their third try.
Replacement Dane Blacker chipped into the mist, the ball was plucked out of the air by Leggatt-Jones, who fed Page for a free run to the line. Unfortunately, Leggatt-Jones pushed the conversion wide.
Then, in a crazy finale, Argentinian Nicolas Roger Farias had two penalty attempts from just inside the Scarlets half to snatch the win, but both kicks were narrowly off target, much to the relief of the visiting camp.
For the Scarlets, the URC goes into hibernation for the next few weeks – Edinburgh are next up on February 27.
Benetton – tries: P. Odogwu, A. Garbisi cons: R. Smith, N. Farias. pens: Smith (2)
Scarlets – tries: G. Davies, T. Lewis, M. Page con: C. Leggatt-Jones pen: Leggatt-Jones
Scarlets: Jac Davies, Macs Page, Joe Roberts, Johnny Williams (capt), Tomi Lewis (repl Iori Badham 67); Carwyn Leggatt-Jones (repl Billy McBryde 79), Gareth Davies (repl Dane Blacker 53), Alec Hepburn (repl Josh Morse 62), Marnus van der Merwe, Archer Holz (repl Henry Thomas 54), Jac Price (repl Jake Ball 67), Sam Lousi, Max Douglas, Jarrod Taylor (repl Dan Davis 78), Fletcher Anderson
Referee: Andrew Brace (IRFU)
Attendance; 4,840