Western Force coach Simon Cron rued missed opportunities and his team's inability to nail the big moments after a crushing loss to the Chiefs left them battling to salvage their Super Rugby season.
The Perth-based Force stayed in the game for long periods on Saturday evening, but were not clinical enough and went down at home 24-14.
They have now lost five of their opening six games to languish 10th in the 11-team standings, 21 points adrift of the table-topping Hurricanes.
"There's been a few games like that where the boys fight hard, work hard, make a lot of tackles," said Cron.
"We've just got to be able to take those opportunities that we had, that we created.
"There's big moments in games that will dictate outcome, silly penalties, momentum shifts. We've got to handle those.
"We've got to take those opportunities and get those big moments right and that's what we'll reflect on."
THREATENING AN UPSET
The Chiefs came into the game as hot favourites and, after a tight first half, went to the break with a 14-7 lead.
Force levelled at 14-14 in the 49th minute thanks to a converted try from Wallabies lock Jeremy Williams to threaten an upset.
But a try by hooker Samisoni Taukei'aho gave the Chiefs a buffer before the boot of All Blacks' star Damian McKenzie put the game out of reach with a penalty in the penultimate minute.
Victory propelled the Chiefs to fifth place on 17 points, eight behind the Hurricanes.
"It's crucial not to give away penalties when you are down by seven points and you've got time pressure as well," said Force skipper Williams.
"We've been in all the games, just need to tweak a few little things and it will come."
The Chiefs return home to face the Waratahs next weekend, while Force head to Queensland to take on the Reds.