Simon Easterby’s side bounced back from a disappointing draw at Zebre to secure a hard-fought 17-9 success in a hugely physical encounter on Saturday night.
A George Earle try and four penalties – three from Aled Thomas and one from injury victim Stephen Shingler – saw the Scarlets home, with Ulster only managing three Ruan Pienaar penalties in reply.
Victory moved the Scarlets up from ninth to sixth in the standings and provided a sense of revenge for their semi-final defeat to the same opposition back in May. The Scarlets were second best seven months ago in Belfast but they were by far the superior side this time around, although they were made to sweat on the outcome late on.
A dominant first-half display despite playing into a heavy wind set the platform for their third league win of the season as they became the first team to beat Ulster in any competition since Glasgow in mid-September.
The Scarlets slipped behind to a Pienaar penalty after eight minutes but they should have been celebrating the game’s opening try five minutes later. They kept possession for an incredible 34 phases deep inside the Ulster 22 despite flanker Aaron Shingler playing no part after taking a heavy knock to the head that saw his evening come to a premature end. But somehow the Ulster defence held firm as the Scarlets attacked around the fringes and the move eventually came to a disappointing end when the ball hit the deck as the hosts finally went wide.
The Scarlets again went close moments later as Nick Reynolds’ break put them on the front foot but referee Alain Rolland ruled that Kirby Myhill had blocked the Ulster defence from getting to Samson Lee as the young prop charged towards the line.
They were level after 21 minutes thanks to Stephen Shingler’s first penalty and they finally had the try their dominance deserved on the half hour as Earle dived over. Ulster had no answer for a quick-moving rolling maul after a close-range lineout, with Earle finishing things off having initially claimed the catch.
Shingler missed the attempted extras from wide on the left but the Scarlets were 8-3 up and looking good without the likes of Wales stars Jonathan Davies, Rhys Priestland and Liam, Scott and Rhodri Williams.
They came close to a second score when Gareth Maule’s burst was followed up by hard yards from the hugely impressive Sione Timani but it came to nothing when skipper Phil John – who had been heavily involved in the build up and was in fantastic form throughout – knocked on two metres out.
With Stephen Shingler having followed his brother from the field with another worrying injury, Thomas took over the kicking duties and pushed the hosts 11-3 ahead with his first touch on the stroke of half time.
Ulster began the second period much brighter, though, and Pienaar cut the gap to 11-6 with a superb strike just moments after missing from the tee two minutes after the restart.
The Springbok star started at fly-half but was switched to scrum-half after 56 minutes but life got harder for Ulster when David McIlwaine was sin binned just 60 seconds after coming on as a replacement. They refused to buckle, though, and Pienaar landed a monster penalty to cancel out a second Thomas strike.
But, with the momentum threatening to swing the visitors’ way, Pienaar missed a sitter from straight in front of the posts and just 25 metres out. Ulster openside Roger Wilson then saw yellow for a deliberate trip on Timani after 74 minutes, with another sweet strike from Thomas putting the result to bed with three minutes remaining.
