Hamilton, New Zealand - The Chiefs conjured up yet another way to lose a Super 12 rugby match they dominated when they went down 25-31 to South Africa's Sharks at the Waikato Stadium on Saturday.
Both teams scored four tries and on paper the difference was the goalkicking, with Butch James kicking five out of seven for the Sharks and David Hill, having one of his worst nights for the Chiefs, succeeding with just two out of seven.
But that was not the only difference between the teams as the Sharks latched on to most of their other opportunities, while the Chiefs had a number go begging off a surfeit of second-phase possession.
It was the Sharks' third win of the season while the Chiefs remained anchored near the foot of the table with just one win.
"I'm still in a state of euphoria about the result of the game," Sharks coach Kevin Putt said afterwards, relishing the return to his old home ground.
"If I was to sit down and go through the process (of analysing the game) I probably wouldn't be the happiest man on earth but that's the way this game runs.
"It's on the scoreboard and we're just ecstatic with the result."
Putt said it was concerning that his side only managed to win 33 percent of possession and they would have to work on that.
"But it's a hell of a lot easier to work on it with five points on the table."
Chiefs coach Kevin Greene reckoned his side had bombed five or six try-scoring chances and two bonus points were little consolation.
An exciting first 40 minutes produced three tries each and the Sharks went to halftime 21-20 ahead thanks to James' superior goalkicking.
But it was the Chiefs who had dominated possession and position on the field, while the Sharks seemed to score each time they got in their attacking half.
Three accurate wipers kicks by James led to tries - two directly to fast men Stefan Terblanche and Brent Russell out wide and the other to prop Etienne Fynn from a ruck when Terblanche was caught by his Chiefs marker Sitiveni Sivivatu.
Sivivatu and No 8 Steven Bates scored tries on the end of some wonderful attacking play by the Chiefs, and replacement wing Loki Crichton the third.
That came after a Hill penalty attempt just before halftime struck the right-hand upright and was snapped up by hard-working lock Keith Robinson who moved it wide.
The Chiefs went very close to scoring on four other occasions in that first 40 minutes, but twice had tries being disallowed by the television match official.
Another resulted in outstanding prop David Briggs being penalised for joining ball carrier Marty Holah from in front to help him over the line, and a fourth seeing Keith Lowen brought down just short but Sharks second five-eighth Rudi Keil sin-binned for a professional foul.
Chiefs openside flanker Marty Holah was prominent throughout the first half, particularly running wide in the backline where he made a number of breaks.
As exciting as the first half was, the first 20 minutes after halftime was a letdown, producing some poor rugby and lack of spark from both sides.
It took 25 minutes for James to break the scoring deadlock with a penalty goal but the Chiefs then sparked into action, lively halfback Isaac Boss scoring on the end of a dozen phases after making two earlier breaks.
That gave the Chiefs the lead 25-24 and a bonus point.
Hill missed the conversion but should have been given another kick when the Sharks charged early.
Twice in the half the Chiefs failed to score from overlaps, injuries taking toll of an already disrupted backline which saw late ring-in reserve halfback Kevin Senio playing on the wing.
The lack of speed and organisation out wide because of those disruptions finally cost the Chiefs when the Sharks swept 70m for speedy fullback Russell to score between the posts for the winning try, which James converted.
Scores:
Sharks 31 (Brent Russell 2, Stefan Terblanche, Etienne Fynn tries; Butch James 4 con, pen) Chiefs 25 (Sitiveni Sivivatu, Steven Bates, Loki Crichton, Isaac Boss tries; David Hill con, pen).
Halftime: 21-20. - Sapa