The DHL Stormers went down 21-15 in their Vodacom United Rugby Championship coastal clash with the Hollywoodbets Sharks in Durban on Saturday.
It was a frustrating outing for the visitors, who looked to have secured a dramatic win at the death before the try was disallowed due to a knock-on in a previous ruck.
The DHL Stormers made a strong start and camped in the opposition 22, but were unable to find a way through. Instead it would be the home side to score first against the run of play as wing Ethan Hooker finished in the corner.
They followed that up with a second try from Siya Kolisi soon afterwards and those were to be the last points they scored in the first half.
Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu kicked an impressive long-range drop-goal before being forced off after taking a heavy knock.
The DHL Stormers scrum was dominant and they were winning the territory battle, but could not finish off the chances they created and went into half-time trailing 14-3 with Ruhan Nel in the sin bin for a tackle off the ball late in the first half.
Leolin Zas crossed the whitewash early in the second half after getting on the end of a well-weighted grubber from Warrick Gelant, but the KZN side responded with a try of their own from Andre Esterhuizen to make it 21-8 heading into the final quarter.
The DHL Stormers refused to drop their heads and their fight was rewarded with a late penalty try, which gave them a chance to win the game at the death.
Manie Libbok was over for the winning try, before it was disallowed by the TMO.
The scorers:
For DHL Stormers:
Tries: Zas, penalty try
DG: Feinberg-Mngomezulu
For Hollywoodbets Sharks:
Tries: Hooker, Kolisi, Esterhuizen
Cons: Masuku 2, Hendrikse
DHL Stormers: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Suleiman Hartzenberg, 13 Ruhan Nel, 12 Dan du Plessis (captain), 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Herschel Jantjies, 8 Marcel Theunissen, 7 Ben-Jason Dixon, 6 Dave Ewers, 5 Ruben van Heerden, 4 JD Schickerling, 3 Neethling Fouche, 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Ali Vermaak.
Replacements: 16 Andre-Hugo Venter, 17 Brok Harris, 18 Sazi Sandi, 19 Adre Smith, 20 Keke Morabe, 21 Louw Nel, 22 Stefan Ungerer, 23 Manie Libbok.
