Llanelli travelled to Edinburgh on Friday with the intention of bouncing back from their Heineken Cup semi-final defeat but they crashed to a 40-18 Welsh/Scottish League defeat.

Duncan Hodge struck for Edinburgh in the first minute, his penalty coming after Todd Blackadder and Derrick Lee had gone close.

Five minutes later a 30-yard drive by the home pack saw Hodge's reverse pass put Kevin Utterson in under the posts.

Hodge converted and, although the Llanelli pack rumbled, they could make little impression on a solid Edinburgh defence.

On the quarter hour Brendan Laney put Edinburgh further ahead with a 30-yard drop goal.

Edinburgh continued to dominate, carving great holes in a lacklustre Llanelli defence.

With 25 minutes gone Graeme Burns' pass to Blackadder was flipped to Lee for a superb try.

Again Hodge converted, and still the Scarlets stayed under the cosh until the half hour mark when the passes started to stick and Mark Jones went close.

The Edinburgh defence held until five minutes from half-time when Stephen Jones put Llanelli on the board with a penalty.

But Edinburgh swung back into the attack only for Chris Paterson to be denied after a chip and chase, and they went into half-time deservedly 20-3 ahead.

Edinburgh almost scored again in the first minute, Burns and Craig Smith both spilling passes on the Llanelli line.

But the visitors were still unable to get into the Edinburgh half.

When Marcus Di Rollo jinked through to find Simon Taylor on his elbow, the home side notched their third try.

Finally Llanelli raised their game and a series of attacks saw Leigh Davies make room for Mark Jones to dive over in the corner, a score which was a signal for the Scarlets to raise their game.

Edinburgh lifted the siege, drove back down field and Hodge slotted his second penalty.

Latching onto a loose pass, Paterson sliced through to go under the posts for Hodge to convert.

Edinburgh capitalised on handling errors to get back to the Llanelli line for man of the match Blackadder to claim the final try and a comprehensive 40-8 victory.

Teams

Edinburgh: Laney, Lee, Di Rollo, Utterson, Paterson, Hodge, Burns, Brannigan, Scott, Smith, Metcalfe, Jolly, Blackadder, S. Taylor, G. Dall.

Not Used: Di Ciacca, Whittingham, Robertson, A. Dall, Blair, Ross, Joiner.

Tries: M. Taylor, Lee, Utterson, Paterson, Blackadder.

Cons: Hodge 3.

Pens: Hodge 2.

Drop Goals: Laney.

Llanelli: B. Davies, M. Jones, N. Boobyer, L. Davies, Proctor, S. Jones, Peel, Madden, Thomas, J. Davies, Cooper, Wyatt, Hodges, I. Boobyer, Quinnell.

Not Used: Booth, McBryde, Gross, D. Jones, Phillips, G. Bowen, Selley.

Tries: M. Jones.

Pens: S. Jones.

Att: 3,420

Ref: Ian Ramage (Scotland).