Scarlets suffered a miserable start to the New Year, going down to a 28-5 defeat to the Dragons in an error-strewn BKT URC Welsh derby at Rodney Parade.
The West Walians were a long way below their best in a game where ill-discipline and a failure to turn possession into points again cost them dear.
A try from wing Ellis Mee was all the the visitors had to show for their efforts, with a resurgent home side building on a narrow 7-5 lead at half-time to run in three second-half tries.
Scarlets also lost second row Max Douglas to a 20-minute red card early on after the break and were never able to recover.
Head coach Dwayne Peel was able to blood more of his young talent with the likes of Josh Morse and Carwyn Leggatt-Jones coming off the bench in the second half, but this was a day to forget in Newport.
Scarlets thought they had scored inside the opening two minutes, but a pass from Ioan Nicholas to Mee was ruled forward as the winger raced to the left corner.
Instead it was the home side who opened the scoring soon with fly-half Tinus de Beer crossing at the posts for a score converted by former Scarlet Angus O’Brien.
Joe Hawkins pushed a penalty attempt wide as Scarlets, like they did against Ospreys on Boxing Day, enjoyed plenty of early possession with little to show.
Second row Harvey Cuckson was shown yellow on 23 minutes following a build-up of infringements from the visitors, but still the majority of play took place in home territory.
Back up to their full complement, Scarlets were finally rewarded on 34 minutes, when from a line-out drive, the dangerous Mee popped up close to the maul and managed to twist and stretch over. Hawkins’s conversion was wide.
All the kickers, off the tee and out of hand, were struggling with the swirling wind at Rodney Parade as O’Brien nudged his own penalty attempt wide just before the interval.
Trailing 7-5 and play into the brunt of the elements, Scarlets were again reduced to 14 men at the start of the second half when Max Douglas was yellow carded for an illegal clearout – a decision upgraded to a 20-minute red – and the impact this time was immediate with hooker and player of the match Oli Burrows going over from close range. O’Brien’s conversion took the lead out to nine points.
It got worse for the Scarlets when wing David Richards sliced through before stepping over from the 22. O’Brien again added the extras to make it 21-5.
As the half wore on, a knock-on, inches from the Dragons line summed up the Scarlets day and it was the home fans in celebration mood when replacement George Roberts went over for the bonus-point score with five minutes left in the clock.
Scarlets now turn their attention to the Champions Cup and a home tie with Top 14 high-flyers Section Paloise a week on Saturday.
Dragons – tries: T. de Beer, O. Burrows, D. Richards, G. Roberts. Cons: A. O’Brien (4)
Scarlets – tries: E. Mee
Referee: Ben Connor (WRU)
Attendance: 8,369
Scarlets – Ioan Nicholas; Tom Rogers (repl Macs Page 69), Joe Roberts, Eddie James, Ellis Mee; Joe Hawkins (repl Carwyn Leggatt-Jones 69), Gareth Davies (repl Archie Hughes 62); Kemsley Mathias (repl Josh Morse 49), Marnus van der Merwe (repl Ryan Elias 49), Henry Thomas (repl Harri O’Connor 49), Harvey Cuckson, Max Douglas (repl Jac Price 62), Taine Plumtree (repl Dan Davis 36), Josh Macleod (capt), Fletcher Anderson.