The Toyota Cheetahs were forced to come from behind to claim a 26-17 win against DHL Western Province in a hard-fought Currie Cup clash at DHL Stadium on Saturday.
DHL Western Province had led for most of the game, but a late surge from the visiting team saw them take the win.
The home side made a strong start and spent some quality time camped in opposition territory before the pressure eventually resulted in the opening try, with hooker Andre-Hugo Venter scoring from a maul.
The Bloemfontein side got on the scoreboard when flank Gideon van der Merwe scored in the corner, but the conversion attempt from Ruan Pienaar went wide.
The second DHL Western Province try came from some enterprising backline play, with Angelo Davids finishing acrobatically in the corner and Kade Wolhuter adding the touchline conversion.
The visitors were last to score before half-time through flyhalf Reinhardt Fortuin, but it was DHL Western Province that took a slender 14-12 lead into the break.
They extended that lead to five points with a penalty from Wolhuter just short of the hour mark, but the Toyota Cheetahs responded with a try from replacement hooker Louis van der Westhuizen that saw them hit the lead for the first time in the match.
They followed that up with a penalty try at the death to seal the 26-17 win and deny DHL Western Province a bonus point.
The scorers:
For DHL WP:
Tries: Venter, Davids
Cons: Wolhuter 2
Pen: Wolhuter
For Toyota Cheetahs:
Tries: Van der Merwe, Fortuin, Van der Westhuizen, penalty try
Cons: Pienaar 2
DHL Western Province: 15 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 14 Duncan Saal, 13 Juan de Jongh (captain), 12 Jean-Luc du Plessis, 11 Angelo Davids, 10 Kade Wolhuter, 9 Thomas Bursey, 8 Keke Morabe, 7 Jarrod Taylor, 6 Junior Pokomela, 5 Gary Porter, 4 Connor Evans, 3 Lee-Marvin Mazibuko, 2 Andre-Hugo Venter, 1 Leon Lyons.
Replacements: 16 Scarra Ntubeni, 17 Kwenzo Blose, 18 Corne Weilbach, 19 Dylan de Leeuw, 20 Louw Nel, 21 Labib Kannemeyer, 22 Cornel Smit, 23 Luke Burger.