The Western Force gained their first competition point of the Super 14 season but fell agonisingly close of victory as the New South Wales Waratahs held on 14-10 at ME Bank Stadium on Saturday night.
The Force put in their most impressive performance of the season so far after losses to the Brumbies, Hurricanes, Chiefs and an embarrassing 40-point defeat to the Reds, but a try to Drew Mitchell and two second-half penalties to Daniel Halangahu were enough for the Waratahs.
It was far from the free-flowing contest the Waratahs had last week in their 73-12 win over the Lions.
Berrick Barnes also missed three of four shots on goal in the first half, but Halangahu's boot and the strong Waratahs defence was enough to get them home without Al Baxter and Wycliff Palu.
The Tahs now have four wins from six games this season and move into fourth position ahead of the Brumbies with 18 points.
The Force hit the front in the 26th minute thanks to a converted Scott Staniforth try after he intercepted a pass from Barnes, and they kept pressing right to the final siren but the Waratahs defence and some calls from referee Jaco Peyper saw them come up short.
The home side's lineout, in particular, improved greatly after proving to be a major problem so far this season.
In fact, the Force didn't cough one up all night.
Both teams traded converted and missed penalties in the opening 15 minutes, but it was the Force who were looking the most dangerous with scores locked level on three.
The Waratahs scored the game's opening try, though, against the run of play thanks to some brilliance from Halangahu and good hands from Mitchell.
Halangahu put in a wonderful grubber kick into the path of Mitchell, who was able to gather cleanly - despite some close checking from two Force defenders, roll and ground the ball across the try line.
Barnes couldn't convert and the Force drew level thanks to superb reading of the play from Staniforth.
He knew what Barnes was going to do before the NSW No.12 did and as soon as Barnes went to pass, Staniforth was right there to receive it and he ran into open field and covered almost 60 metres to bring scores level at 8-8.
O'Connor converted to put the Force in front and the score stayed 10-8 at half-time.
Neither side could find enough space or continuous possessions to seriously threaten for a try in the opening 20 minutes of the second half, but much of that due to referee Peyper.
The South African continually pulled up both teams for minor infringements and was particularly picky in the scrum which held up the ability of both the Force and Waratahs to get anything going.
The visitors did benefit with two penalties which Halangahu converted at the 56th- and 64th-minute marks, but it was still the Force doing the bulk of the attacking as they searched for their first win of the season.
One attempt was ruled to be held up over the try line and then a late Force attack with a minute to go saw Peyper again call a penalty against the home side.
That was enough for the Waratahs to clear the ball, but the Force stole the lineout and had one last crack.
Peyper again intervened to rule against the Force in the breakdown and