Happily, the momentum in the last 20 minutes of the match swung the way of the Highlanders when Chris Noakes, fresh on the field, spun a pass to Ben Smith who capitalised on a closing gap in the Cheetahs defense to break the gain line and find himself in open space.
In hot support of Smith, Noakes was right where he needed to be to receive the pass back inside to beat the Cheetahs fullback and dot down in the middle of the uprights, his third touch on the ball garnering the first 5 pointer for the Highlanders.
In the 20 minutes he was on the field, Noakes brought the Highlanders 17 points and Jimmy Cowan snagged 2 tries in his appearance off the bench.
The ability of a team to come back from such a deficit, to grab both their first lead of the game and the win in the final minute is testimony to the character of the Highlanders.
Belief. It can be elusive and fickle. It can be the difference between a win and a loss.
The Highlanders believed, Sias Ebersohn doubted.
That made all the difference, Highlanders win 36-33 over the Cheetahs.