THEY don't half make life tough for themselves.

At the end of a week in which their head coach described in painstaking detail how last Sunday's 62-13 hammering at the hands of the Ospreys had been down to foolish errors which were brutally punished by the opposition, Edinburgh spent most of last night putting on a repeat.

Their performance against Scarlets was far from polished but the fact they hung on in there when everything was going against them suggests there might in fact be some truth in Alan Solomons' assertions that there is a sense of purpose and a community of spirit in this squad that will eventually allow them to become genuine contenders at the top end of the Guinness PRO 12 table.

The home side fell behind within a minute of the start when Tom Heathcote misread the bounce of the ball and allowed Harry Robinson to swoop for the score. The little stand-off soon made amends with a long- range scrum penalty but the ill-discipline of his forwards meant he had very little meaningful ball to work with during the first half, which was virtually all Scarlets.

Their full-back Liam Williams squandered a golden try-scoring opportunity when he stepped inside Jack Cuthbert only to flip the ball away with the line at his mercy. Robinson nearly added his and his team's second touchdown when he once again read the bounce of the ball better than his opponents but he couldn't quite get it under control as he skidded for the line. Scarlets eventually got their reward when Aled Davies took a quick tap penalty and sent Williams over under the posts but the scoreline did not really reflect the way the match had gone.

Then, in the 36th minute, Edinburgh finally managed to click into gear as an attacking force. Greig Tonks led the charge upfield, before Heathcote and Sam Beard linked to create the sort of overlap on the left that a finisher of the calibre of Tim Visser does not need a second invitation to take advantage to.

John Barclay, the Scarlets flanker and erstwhile Scotland stalwart, admitted afterwards that his team could not quite understand why they were only seven points ahead at the break given the amount of possession and territory they had commanded.

Edinburgh conceded silly penalties all across the park last night. They lost Cornell du Preez - almost certainly their most influential player last year but who seems to be struggling for form this season - to the sin-bin for pulling down a line-out. But most shocking of all was the senselessness of John Andress's conduct in two incidents either side of half-time.

No sooner had Edinburgh cast themselves a lifeline with that Visser try than Andress was charging offside at a ruck and clobbering Davies to give Rhys Priestland a pop at goal. The big Irishman got away with that moment of madness but was clearly no wiser for the experience because he was in trouble again within four minutes of the start of the second half, this time for not rolling away at a ruck under the shadow of his own posts.

Referee John Lacey had no qualms about sending the prop to the sin-bin, and Priestland kicked the points. To their credit, Edinburgh dug in while he was off the pitch and a second Heathcote penalty meant they were no worse off after they had been restored to full power than they were before they had lost Andress.

And as the game entered its final 10 minutes they somehow found themselves in a position whereby they were only a converted score behind. It was a bizarre situation given how much of the match - particularly in the first half - they had spent on the back foot.

The Scarlets had spurned several kickable penalty opportunities during the first half as they looked to kill hapless Edinburgh off by scoring tries and they paid a heavy price at the end.

Phil Burleigh was the hero for the home team, hitting the line like a steam train and using that momentum to get over the whitewash. Heathcote added the conversion, and astonishingly had a chance to claim the win for his team as the game moved into injury time when the Scarlets were penalised for holding on to the ball on the deck near the halfway line.

It was late in the game, however, and Heathcote's powerful right boot was just a wee bit too weary to fire home the three points from that sort of range.