A late try from fullback Inny Radebe and a touchline conversion from Rhyno Smith gave the Sharks a narrow win over Western Province and moved them to the top of the Currie Cup standings.
The Sharks spent the entire second half camped deeply inside WP territory but the visitors squandered many good opportunities through impatience and over-elaboration. Scrumhalf Louis Schreuder and veteran wing Odwa Ndungane both dropped the ball over the line in the act of scoring.
Thanks to the Sharks' largesse it looked as if WP would escape even when they were reduced to 14 men with flank Steph de Witt sin-binned for killing the ball, but eventually their defence broke.
The home team were rocked back after three minutes when referee Jaco Peyper awarded the Sharks a penalty try after WP collapsed a rolling maul close to the line.
Running rampant
It wasn't an ideal start for a team that kept the Golden Lions tryless a week earlier.
But for the next 20 minutes it was all WP as they threatened to run rampant. Flyhalf Damian Willemse landed a 10th-minute penalty before centre Huw Jones scored a superb try that began from the restart to Willemse's penalty.
Wing Seabelo Senatla ran it to the edge of the 22 and from the ruck left wing Ruhan Nel collected a chip ahead and fed a clever inside ball to No 8 Nizaam Carr. The loose forward picked the ball off his bootlaces, found scrumhalf Dewaldt Duvenage, who in turn put the supporting Jones, running a clever angle, into space.
WP's second try stemmed from Willemse's dazzling footwork and soft hands. He attracted the attention of two defenders with a small sidestep before offloading to flank Jaco Coetzee, who slipped through two soft tackles to score.
The Sharks stayed in the match thanks to hooker Franco Marais crashing over after lively wing S'busiso Nkosi cut through...