PRINCIPALITY CUP SEMI-FINAL Cardiff (5) 10 Tries: P Muller, R Williams. Llanelli (27) 44 Tries: B Davies, S Jones, G Evans, M Jones, L Davies, M Watkins. Cons: S Jones (4). Pens: S Jones (2). Att: 17,000

Llanelli will return to the Millennium Stadium on 3 May to meet Newport in the Principality Cup final after despatching Cardiff in a one-sided semi.

The cup kings from the west took an early grip on the game, looking determined to make up for the disappointment of their Heineken Cup quarter-final exit last weekend.

They ran in six tries, with Stephen Jones kicking 14 points, in their highest ever Cup score against the outgunned Blue and Blacks.

The Scarlets, having lost out to Pontypridd in last year's final, will be seeking for their first Cup victory since 2000 against Newport, who won the trophy in 2001.

Cardiff helped the Scarlets settle any early nerves, a sixth-minute penalty allowing Stephen Jones to get the west Walians off the mark.

We played open, 15-man rugby and are delighted with the performance Stephen Jones

Two minutes later, excellent approach work from the Llanelli half involving Garan Evans and Chris Wyatt saw the ball fed to Mark Jones on the left wing.

He breezed past the featherweight tackle of Rhys Williams, cut inside and fed Barry Davies who crossed for a fine converted try.

The Easterby brothers combined well to set up Llanelli's next attack. The forwards quickly cleared out the resulting ruck on Cardiff's 22, and Stephen Jones took advantage of the clean ball to throw a dummy and cross for an unconverted try.

It was Cardiff's set of brothers, the Robinsons, who combined to get them off the mark in the 22nd minute.

Clean line-out ball was delivered to the midfield where Jamie Robinson cut inside past his Wales rival Matthew Watkins.

Jones produced a man-of-the-match performance

The centre fed his full-back brother Nicky, who passed back inside for Pieter Muller to score, Iestyn Harris pushing the conversion wide.

Cardiff's fightback continued as they encamped in the Llanelli half, but it was a Scarlet break-out that led to the next try.

A delightful touch pass in the centre from Watkins put Barry Davies into a gap, and the full-back fed Garan Evans who capped his 250th appearance for the club with a try.

The Scarlets forwards were beginning to bully their opposite numbers, and on the stroke of half-time a bullocking Scott Quinnell run took them to the Cardiff line.

Guy Easterby spun the ball out, allowing Stephen Jones and Watkins to combine and put Mark Jones under the posts.

Davies provided a cutting edge from full-back

A Jones penalty took Llanelli to 30 points early in the second half, but their progress was hampered when Quinnell was sin binned for repeatedly slowing Cardiff ruck ball.

It was a temporary respite, though, as a flowing move from the 14-man Scarlets was rounded off by captain Leigh Davies.

The Blue and Blacks resorted to desperation measures as they chased the lost game, and a laboured move from near their own line saw Martyn Williams give a simple interception try to Matthew Watkins.

In the closing minutes, Rhys Williams gained meagre consolation for the capital side, showing his pace with a length-of-the-field run for a try.

"We played open, 15-man rugby and are delighted with the performance," said man-of-the-match Stephen Jones at the close of the game.

Llanelli: Barry Davies; Mark Jones, Matthew Watkins, Leigh Davies (capt), Garan Evans; Stephen Jones, Guy Easterby; Iestyn Thomas, Robin McBryde, John Davies, Vernon Cooper, Chris Wyatt, David Hodges, Simon Easterby, Scott Quinnell.
Reps: Martyn Madden, Aled Gravelle, Luke Gross, Ian Boobyer, Mike Phillips, Gareth Bowen, Salesi Finau.

Cardiff: Nick Robinson; Rhys Williams, Jamie Robinson, Pieter Muller, Craig Morgan; Iestyn Harris, Ryan Powell; Kenneth Fourie, Peter Rogers, Ben Evans, Heino Senekal, John Tait, Robin Snowden-Taylor, Martyn Williams (capt), Emyr Lewis.
Reps: John Yapp, Lewis Collins, Luke Tait, Jim Brownrigg, Richard Smith, Matt Allen, Dean Dewdney.

Ref: Nigel Whitehouse (WRU)