The Ospreys survived a last-second Steven Shingler penalty miss to hold on to a 27-26 victory against local rivals Scarlets at Parc y Scarlets.
Shingler could not bisect the posts with seconds remaining after Dan Lydiate had been penalised at a maul.
Eli Walker’s try in the final quarter was enough to secure victory in a topsy-turvy encounter in front of a 14,000 Boxing Day crowd.
It was the home side who started the brighter – John Barclay going over in the corner uncontested following good work in the red-zone with Aled Thomas adding the extras.
Dan Biggar and Thomas exchanged a number of kicks before Hanno Dirksen powered his way over the line from five metres out to draw the sides level.
Parity did not last long as Aled Davies wriggled over after replacement Jack Condy went close with a strong break to restore the seven-point gap.
Scarlets would have hoped for a bigger lead going into half-time with an attacking line-out but an error gifted the Ospreys a reprieve before Jake Ball saw himself sin-binned for a late tackle on Biggar.
And they were made to pay further as Alun Wyn Jones forced his way over to put the sides level at the break.
The Scarlets started the second-half well – Thomas kicking two penalties to put the home side back in front.
However, the Ospreys pack began to gain dominance as the match reached its climax.
Thomas attempted to run the ball back but was caught isolated by Justin Tipuric and Josh Matavesi.
From the resulting turnover, tight-head prop Dmitri Arhip found himself in space on the left wing and while the Moldovan could not quite reach the try line, or in fact the 22, he did feed the slightly-faster Walker who cantered in unopposed to give them the lead for the first time.
The match looked to be settled as Biggar lined up a kick to give the Ospreys a four-point lead but the Wales talisman dragged it wide of the uprights.
And just as time appeared to be running out for the Scarlets, Lydiate’s indiscretion in a maul gifted Shingler one final chance to snatch victory.
Unfortunately for Wayne Pivac’s men, his kick drifted away to see the spoils go to the visitors.
