We were lucky – Easterby

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Scarlets boss Simon Easterby admitted his side were lucky to claim a draw against Racing Metro at Parc y Scarlets on Saturday.

Scarlets boss Simon Easterby admitted his side were lucky to claim a 26-26 draw against Racing Metro in Saturday's Heineken Cup clash at Parc y Scarlets.

The hosts came back from a 10-0 deficit to lead 23-10 in the early stages of the second half of their Pool Four clash. But Racing struck back to get a share of the spoils thanks to a try from number eight Masi Matadigo and Jonathan Sexton's goal-kicking.

Racing could have secured victory had they not seen a late try from flanker Wenceslas Lauret, who had already scored earlier in the match, ruled out for a knock-on.

“Up until the 79th minute we would have been disappointed with the result, but then we got lucky,” said Easterby.

“We played into their hands a little bit and we are probably lucky not to come away with loss.

“We have got to understand that we have not helped ourselves and we've given them opportunities.

“But there were lots of positives from the game. We showed a real intent at times.”

Easterby revealed he was happy to take six points from his side's opening two clashes against Racing and Harlequins, but admitted his squad were disappointed not to win at home.

“We probably will look back and see that today was a chance missed, but (we have) gone away to Harlequins and got a win,” he added.

“So six points from 10 isn't a bad start, but we have got to go to Clermont and play them back to back after the autumn internationals.

“The players are disappointed because they felt they probably missed out on an opportunity to beat Racing.”

Despite coming close to nabbing a late win, Racing flanker Dan Lydiate felt a draw was a fair reflection of the game.

“I think we were unlucky not to win at the end but it was probably a fair result,” he said.

“We thought it was play on but it's up to the ref's interpretation. You have to take it for what it was and move on.

“You want to have the win but it is better that a defeat, so it is probably a fair reflection that both sides got something out of the game.”