A sixth successive home victory saw the Scarlets cement their position in the top six of the BKT United Rugby Championship.
A gritty display against opponents who stayed in the fight throughout, earned the Scarlets a tense 30-24 victory to round off this block of fixtures.
The home side moved into a 27-12 lead midway through the second period, but two late Edinburgh tries made for another tense finale.
The win was built on an aggressive defence and the power of the pack, with the line-out drive bringing about two tries to go with another by full-back Ioan Nicholas. Fly-half Ioan Lloyd also had an impeccable afternoon with the boot, kicking 15 points.
On his return from injury, Johnny Williams produced a powerful player-of-the-match display in midfield – with and without the ball – with skipper Josh Macleod also putting in another strong performance.
The home side were ahead early thanks to a brace of penalties from the boot of Lloyd.
Edinburgh thought they had crossed for the game’s opening try when British & Irish Lions scrum-half Ali Price finished off an attack, but the score was chalked off for a forward pass in the build-up.
Scarlets duly took full advantage of the let-off.
Hooker Patrick Harrison was shown yellow following a string of infringements by the visitors and when Scarlets kicked to the corner, their forwards went full throttle at the line-out to allow Marnus van der Merwe to pounce. Lloyd added the extras.
Edinburgh, though, continued to look dangerous and after Vaea Fifita was sin-binned for a high tackle, the momentum of the game swung dramatically in the final minutes or the half.
From a short-range line-out, Scarlets found themselves on the back foot and skipper Sam Skinner drove over from close range. Ben Healy converted.
On the stroke of half-time, another penalty for a high tackle led to another short-range line-out and a second score for the visitors through Harrison. Healy’s conversion was pushed wide and Scarlets led by a point, 13-12, at the break.
Back up to their full roster, the Scarlets extended their advantage six minutes after the restart.
A Steff Evans half-break led to a penalty inside the Edinburgh 22 and from the resulting line-out, the forward drive did the rest again with Macleod this time the scorer. Lloyd nailed a brilliant touchline conversion to make it 20-12.
Scarlets had their third try on the hour mark. After opting to take a quick tap five metres out, Sam Lousi made the initial inroads, before slick hands put Nicholas over. Lloyd was successful with the conversion once again.
At 27-12 Scarlets looked in command, but with the Edinburgh pack starting to win a number of penalty decisions, back came the visitors with tries from Healy and replacement hooker Harri Morris to make it 27-24 with two and a half minutes left on the clock.
But a couple of crucial late penalties eased the nerves with Lloyd securing the win with the final kick of the match.
The Scarlets’ next URC match is against Munster in Limerick on March 15.
Scarlets – tries: M. van der Merwe, I. Nicholas, J. Macleod. Cons: I. Lloyd (3). Pens: Lloyd (3)
Edinburgh – tries: S. Skinner, P. Harrison, B. Healy, H. Morris. Cons: B. Healy (2).
Scarlets: I. Nicholas; J. Davies, M. Page, J. Williams, Steff Evans; I. Lloyd, G. Davies; A. Hepburn (repl S. O’Connor 71), M. van der Merwe, A. Holz (repl G. Hawley 77), A. Craig (repl J. Price 68), S. Lousi, M. Douglas (repl T. Plumtree 42), J. Macleod (capt), V. Fifita.
Attendance: 5,756