The man who threw the loose pass – Ospreys fly-half Matthew Jones – should have made amends with a try in the final stages of the opening half, but referee Nigel Owens ruled that he failed to ground the ball. It took only a minute for Owens to go from crowd villain to crowd favourite when he awarded the home side a penalty try after the Scarlets pack disintegrated on their own line, and the Ospreys took a deserved 19-10 lead into the break.
Scarlets backrower Alix Popham was bundled into touch an inch from the try-line in the opening move of the second spell, and fly-half Mike Hercus narrowed the margin to six points with his third goal of the night. The visitors’ comeback stalled when lock Adam Jones was binned for a professional foul, but Ospreys No.8 Jonathan Thomas made it 14 men apiece when he went for a similar offence.
Henson’s seventh goal gave the Ospreys a 25-13 lead as the match entered its final 10 minutes, and the home side’s rugged defence – led by New Zealand scrum-half Jason Spice – kept the Scarlets at bay.
Ospreys:
Try – Penalty try
Pens – G Henson 5
DG – G Henson
Con – G Henson
Scarlets:
Try – M Watkins
Pens – M Hercus 2
Con – M Hercus
Halftime: Ospreys 19-10
Yellow cards:
A Jones (Scarlets)
J Thomas (Ospreys)
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)
Crowd: 15,128
