Laurie Mains' Cats once again failed to overcome their touring bogey when they snatched defeat from the jaws of victory against the Chiefs in Tauranga on Sunday.

The Cats, who are yet to win a game overseas in the Super 12, went down 22-18 to the spirited New Zealanders, but in fairness, the visitors should have already wrapped up the game in the first half.

One missed opportunity after the other was the order of the day as poor handling and even worse option taking saw them slide to their second defeat of the campaign. They dominated all aspects of the game, winning the territory and possession stakes by more than 70 per cent, but still couldn't pull it through.

The Chiefs started the match like a house on fire and were awarded a penalty try inside the first minute when Wylie Human tackled Rodger Randle without the ball. For all the Cats attacking in the remainder of the first half, two penalties by Louis Koen and Glenn Jackson was the only other scoring before the break.

With Mains' halftime speech still ringing in their ears, the visitors started the second stanza in much the same way as their hosts did, with Japie Mulder bursting through a static defence to give the Cats a perfect start.

Jackson extended the Chiefs' lead with another penalty, before scrumhalf Werner Swanepoel capitalised on some slack work by Randle when he charged down an attempted clearance and scored in the corner. Koen's sideline conversion gave the Cats the lead for the first time in the match.

After that it was a case of Jackson keeping the scoreboard ticking with some accurate goalkicking, while the Johannesburg-based side threw everything they had at the opposition defence.

The Chiefs survived the late onslaught, though, to record their fourth win of the campaign and move up to fifth position on the log. They face the Sharks in Taupo next week, while the Cats travel to Whangarei for a crucial encounter against the Blues.

Scorers:

Cats - Tries: Japie Mulder, Werner Swanepoel; Conversion: Louis Koen; Penalties: Koen (2).

Chiefs - Try: Penalty Try; Conversion: Glenn Jackson; Penalties: Jackson (5).

Scoring sequence:

First Half: 7-0 Penalty try, Jackson conversion (2nd); 7-3 Koen penalty (11th); 10-3 Jackson penalty (21st).

Second Half: 10-8 Mulder try (1st); 13-8 Jackson penalty (7th); 13-15 Swanepoel try, Koen conversion (10th); 16-15 Jackson penalty (14th); 16-18 Koen penalty (15th); 19-18 Jackson penalty (18th); 22-18 Jackson penalty (30th).

Teams:

Chiefs: Loki Crichton; Roger Randle, Scott McLeod, Mark Ranby, Bruce Reihana; Glen Jackson, Danny Lee; Deon Muir (capt), Marty Holah, Koula Tukino, Mark Cooksley, Royce Willis, Tim Knight, Guy Coleman, Deacon Manu. Substitutes: Keith Lowen (McLeod 65th), David Hill, Rhys Duggan (Lee 56th), Duncan Blaikie (Holah 65th), Tama Tuirirangi (Knight 72nd), Paul Mitchell.

Cats: Thinus Delport; Wylie Human, Grant Esterhuizen, Japie Mulder, Dean Hall; Louis Koen, Werner Swanepoel; Andre Vos, Andre Venter, Johan Erasmus (capt), Jannes Labuschagne, Johan Ackermann, Willie Meyer, Leon Boshoff, Marius Mostert. Substitutes: Andre van Niekerk (Boshoff 29th), Pietman van Niekerk, Piet Krause, Kleinjan Tromp (Labuschagne 25th), Chester Williams (Human 50th), Clinton van Rensburg (Koen 70th), Chad Alcock (Swanepoel 66th).