A last-gasp try to Chiefs fullback Damien McKenzie has sealed an upset victory over the Blues in Hamilton.
In a gritty contest where errors spoiled attack opportunities, the less-fancied home side grabbed their second victory of the season and first at home.
After breaking their 11-game losing streak last week against the Hurricanes, the home side took that confidence into the encounter to get them back in grand final contention.
The Blues had the better opportunities in the first half and turned down six penalty goal opportunities as they backed their lineout and scrum but they couldn't execute.
If this game was played two weeks ago the Chiefs might've rolled over but buoyed off their comeback victory last week, the home side rolled up their sleeves and hung on.
In the 24th-minute the visitors finally got their reward through a Chiefs' mistake. They overthrew a defensive lineout that saw Fin Christie sprint onto it. He went inches short before Akira Ioane powered his way over to hand the Aucklanders a seven-point lead at the break.
The home side came out on fire in the second half and thought they had hit the front through All Black Anton Lienert-Brown but he failed to ground a grubber kick from McKenzie.
They only had to wait three minutes to get the try they desperately deserved.
The home side executed a perfect lineout drive that saw Samisoni Taukei'aho crash over to see his side in front but this was only the start of the drama.
Straight after the Chiefs try, Otere Black missed a simple penalty goal attempt but that didn't stop the Blues.
From the 22m dropout, Caleb Clark stormed through the home side's defence before they went wide to Tom Robinson who broke through two tackles to crash over.
The Blues thought they had the game-sealing try 10 minutes from time when the visitors' best player Dalton Papali'i crashed over from a rolling maul, but the television match official ruled it out for obstruction at the maul.
The Chiefs were camped in the Blues red-zone for the final 10 minutes and it looked like it wasn't going to be their night.
The best player on the night was Luke Jacobson and he was instrumental in the match-winning try. He broke through the defence before Black brought him down in a try-saving tackle.
The home side spun it wide to McKenzie who showed off his trademark footwork to crash over to seal the victory.
The drama didn't end there as the Blues used their captain's referral to check the last pass. It took a number of different camera angles, but TMO Aaron Paterson rightly ruled there was no clear and obvious evidence to overturn the on-field try, following Jacobson's ball to Chase Tiatia.
This sets up an intriguing finish to the competition at the halfway stage with the Blues sitting second just five points clear of the Hurricanes and Highlanders who are tied for last so anyone could claim that second grand final spot.
