Edinburgh remained rooted at the bottom of the RaboDirect Pro12 table last night as they proved unable to overcome visitors Scarlets who were reduced to 14 men on three occasions at Murrayfield last night.

Nor was it merely the result that demonstrated the scale of the task the new management faces since it was a performance that offered little in the way of promise that they will be on their way up the league any time soon.

The opening quarter was very much in line with what English Premiership clubs seem to be hoping to drag the Pro12 towards in terms of playing style since, even in this competition where such a thing cannot exist, it was an encounter which bore all the hallmarks of one of their eulogised relegation battles.

In conditions that could not have been better suited to running rugby - a mild, calm autumn evening - we were instead subjected to the sight of pointless kick after pointless kick being launched towards the Murrayfield floodlights.

Only after Jake Ball paid the price for the frustration being generated among all those witnessing the inaction with a visit to the sin bin as the umpteenth Scarlet to fling himself into a ruck from an illegal angle, was the deadlock finally broken.

Even then, with more than 28 minutes having elapsed, it was merely a penalty goal that sent Edinburgh in front, their bid to exploit the extra man having foundered due to a handling error.

The lead lasted only three minutes, the 14 men working their way towards the home 22 where the failure to release a player in the tackle allowed Rhys Priestland a free shot at a drop goal from long range. It dropped short but he knew that he would get a better chance with the looming penalty and duly knocked it over.

Then, no sooner had Ball returned to the action, than he and his fellow forwards did the hard work to set up the game's first try, sucking in sufficient defenders to provide the space for Priestland to send Nick Reynolds into the right corner for a score the Wales fly-half then expertly converted from the touchline.

The last opportunity of the half fell to Leonard after the Scarlets, slightly surprisingly given their superiority in that department to that point, had a penalty awarded against them at a scrummage on their 10 metre line and the youngster duly reduced the leeway to four points at the break.

Whatever was said in the home dressing room at half-time had a brief impact. Dave Denton and Dimitri Basilaia, their two international back-row men, both looked far more aggressive with their first carries before Greig Tonks then followed their lead, charging down the left wing then not so much handing Rhodri Williams off as grabbing the scrum-half by the scruff of the neck and casting him aside.

Jack Cuthbert then took play on purposefully and as the Scarlets scrambled backwards John Barclay, their summer signing from Glasgow Warriors, overdid it in trying to slow things down at a ruck and was sin-binned, Leonard's third penalty success bringing his side within a point.

Once more, though, Edinburgh's registering of the half's first points merely galvanised their under-manned opponents. Again the Scarlets made light of their numerical disadvantage in building pressure and a loose clearance attempt by Sam Hidalgo-Clyne was seized upon by Priestland who saw that there was room to his left.

He fed Jordan Williams who initially seemed to be seeking support out wide as he headed left across field only to slip the first tackle and realise he was in the clear. Two covering defenders barely laid fingers on him in their attempts to prevent him scoring in the left corner.

Priestland's failure to convert from out wide this time meant there was still only one score between the sides. However, the Scarlets were looking much the more enterprising side and when they were given their chance to enjoy a man advantage when Willem Nel was sin-binned as the Edinburgh pack was deemed to have committed one scrummaging offence too many, they offered Edinburgh a lesson in making it count.

A spell of pressure resulted in another scrum being awarded under the home posts and while the ball was scrambled back to Leonard his clearance merely reached his opposite number who again spotted space on the left.

This time Priestland chipped the ball behind the defence and while the retreating Lee Jones got there first he could not hold on as he slid into it, succeeding only in knocking it behind his own line where two Scarlets dived for glory, Jon Davies claiming the try which Priestland again converted well.