Having looked destined for defeat midway through the second half, Scarlets dug deep to claim a 35-35 draw against the Dragons in an entertaining end-of-season clash in Llanelli.
A 75th-minute try by Macs Page and superb touchline conversion from Joe Hawkins secured a share of the spoils after the home side had looked set to a fifth successive URC loss, having been reduced to 13 men in the final quarter.
But somehow, inspired by a player-of-the-match performance from No. 8 Taine Plumtree, the Scarlets stayed in the contest.
Plumtree scored two tries and had key assists for two others as Scarlets finished with three match points to finish in 14th spot in the league ladder.
After the crowd had said their farewells to the retiring Jake Ball and his family, Josh Macleod led out the team on his 150th appearance and it was the home team who flew out of the blocks, literally – Plumtree scoring a spectacular opening try in the second minute.
The Wales international back-rower was freed out wide, showed superb skills to chip over, regather and then keep his feet infield to dive in at the corner. Hawkins nailed the touchline conversion and the Scarlets were up and running.
However, the lead was short-lived with Dragons taking advantage of a Scarlets error from the kick-off to set up a close-range try from flanker Thomas Young.
The visitors pushed further ahead with a penalty from former Scarlet Angus O’Brien and a second try, from a driving line-out, scored by hooker Brodie Coghlan.
The Scarlets’ response was swift with Plumtree finding his way over following a series of forward charges. Hawkins added the extras to make it 17-14 after just 15 minutes.
WIth unseasonal drizzle hampering handling, errors littered the contest and although the Scarlets created a couple of chances in Dragons territory, it was the Men of Gwent who struck just before half-time through departing No. 8 Aaron Wainwright, who made it 22-14 at the break.
O’Brien punished more Scarlets indiscipline with a penalty a few minutes after the restart to push the score out to 25-14, but back came the home side through that man Plumtree, who palmed back a Dragons defensive line-out which allowed skipper Macleod to gratefully accepted the gift to dive over. Hawkins converted and it was game on again.
But then came what appeared to be the game’s pivotal moment on 58 minutes.
Wing Rio Dyer found his way to the corner for what looked like a fourth Dragons try, but although the TMO revealed the speedster had lost the ball as he attempted to ground it, replacement Gareth Davies was deemed to have acted illegally in stopping the score. Davies was shown yellow and referee Ben Whitehouse headed to the posts to award the penalty try.
The see-sawing nature of the contest continued when Plumtree turned provider again, charging down an attempted clearance, grabbed the bouncing ball before finding Jarrod Taylor, who crossed at the posts. Hawkins’ conversion made it 32-28, but still there was more drama to follow.
After Scarlets were reduced to 13 men when Carwyn Leggatt-Jones was sin-binned for a deliberate knock-on, another O’Brien penalty made it a seven point game.
Then came the late show.
With five minutes left on the clock and Scarlets back up to 15 men, a lovely cross kick from Leggatt-Jones found Page out wide and he touched down for a try that Hawkins converted beautifully.
With the scores level, Scarlets had a late chance to snatch it, but a late long-range injury-time penalty attempt from Hawkins didn’t have the legs.
Scarlets – tries: T. Plumtree (2), J. Macleod, J. Taylor, M. Page. Cons: J. Hawkins (5).
Dragons – tries: T. Young, B. Coghlan, A. Wainwright, Penalty try. Cons: O’Brien (2). Pens: O’Brien (3).
Attendance: 7,418
Referee: Ben Whitehouse (WRU)