A hat-trick of league wins had seen their prospects of back-to-back semi-final spots boosted prior to the trip to Belfast but they left Ravenhill empty handed.
Former Ospreys wing Tommy Bowe scored one of four tries for the side that beat the Scarlets in the knockout stages last season, with fly-half Paddy Jackson making up for his omission from Ireland’s RBS 6 Nations clash in Paris with two more scores and Tom Court grabbing the bonus point effort late on.
Scrum-half Gareth Davies scored the Scarlets’ solitary try, with Olly Barkley converting and adding two penalties in the rearranged fixture.
The visitors trailed 21-3 after 34 minutes as Jackson’s brace and Bowe’s effort came in a 20-minute spell but Davies again showed his fine form by chipping ahead from turnover ball, before beating opposite number Ruan Pienaar for pace to claim an impressive individual try.
Defeat means Simon Easterby’s sixth-placed Scarlets are still 10 points behind the fourth-placed Ospreys but they have now played the same number of games.
Next up for the Scarlets is an away tie with Glasgow next Saturday evening, a clash that could have an even bigger impact on the play-off picture given that the fifth-placed Warriors are seven points clear of the Scarlets with two games in hand.
After they return from Scotland, the Scarlets have the comfort of four home games from their five remaining fixtures, with Connacht, Zebre, Newport Gwent Dragons and Cardiff Blues all travelling to Llanelli. The Blues also form the opposition for what is technically their last away game – the Judgement Day derby at the Millennium Stadium on Sunday, April 20.
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