It was a wild old night in Bloemfontein, as the Highlanders attracted the ire of pedantic Australian referee Paul Marks and were forced to play for part of the game with 13 men.
Their season-long battle with the yellow card continued as Tom Donnelly (taking a man out in the air) became the eighth player to spend time in the bin and Blair Stewart (high tackle) the ninth.
The indiscretions occurred just 2min apart late in the second half.
Donnelly's looked fairly harmless, but it was strange Stewart and captain Craig Newby protested so vehemently against Stewart's punishment when the reserve five-eighth had jumped and wrapped his arm around a Cheetah's head.
The timing of the binnings could not have been worse.
The Highlanders suddenly saw their 17-point lead slip away as the Cheetahs smelled blood.
When lock Rory Duncan scored the Africans' fourth try with 9min remaining, you had the sinking feeling the Highlanders were going belly-up.
They had certainly tried their hardest to lose from what seemed an invincible position.
They were also fielding a bizarre backline at the end, due to injuries, that featured two first fives and halfback Jimmy Cowan on the wing.
What followed was a pleasing reminder that, as poor a season as it has been, the Highlanders can still play with a reasonable level of accuracy to match their keen spirit.
In a classic, gripping finish, the Highlanders held on to the ball, recycled it through a dozen phases and wound the clock down.
Newby later called it "good Otago and Southland rugby", but it was probably more Crusaders-like in its efficiency.
The Highlanders captain was relieved to finally get points out of the African tour and felt the shot of confidence would help his battling side lift for remaining games against the Blues and the Crusaders.
"It would have been nice to have had this win in round two or three.
We could have kicked on from there," Newby said.
"I'm extremely proud of the guys.
We knew the Cheetahs would be desperate for a win at home but we were desperate for a win away."
As well as putting themselves in a position to finish a little higher on the Super 14 table, the Highlanders have solved their first five issue, at least for the remainder of the season.
Delany was an immense contributor to this win, both with his sharp runs with the ball and his accurate kicking.
The Highlanders were out-scored four tries to three, but Delany landed four penalties, and his only two misses at goal hit the post.
Thomson has been in and out of the starting line-up but he took a mortgage on the No 6 jersey for the immediate future with another all-action performance.
He played key roles in the tries the Highlanders scored right on half-time and shortly after, feeding Bancroft for the first and then intercepting, sprinting 40m, flicking a deft pass to Paul Williams and collecting the return pass to score the second.
Bancroft has been another regular benchman but he had one of his better nights, popping up for two tries, including one on the end of a Delany grubber.
Highlanders lock Hoani MacDonald claimed several steals off the opposition line-out, and fullback Paul Williams impressed with his intelligence and tactical kicking.
The Cheetahs played some good rugby, exposing the Highlanders when the moved the ball at pace.
But they also benefited from a dodgy television match official decision when replacement flanker Hendro Scholtz was awarded a try and no angle could possibly indicate the ball had been grounded.
For all that they nearly butchered it, the Highlanders deserved this win.
It might be one of only two they claim this year, so they may as well celebrate it.
Highlanders 31 (Aaron Bancroft 2, Adam Thomson tries; Mike Delany 2 conversions, 4 penalty goals), Cheetahs 28 (JW Jonker, Duane Vermeulen, Hendro Scholtz, Rory Duncan tries; Conrad Barnard 2, Meyer Bosman 2 conversions).
Half-time: 11-14.
Referee: Paul Marks (Australia).
