The Hisense Sharks NSW Cup side have gone down 38-34 to the Auckland Vulcans at Toyota Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Sitting in fifth position on the ladder, Tony Herman's men were looking to continue climbing the ladder, but it wasn't to be with too many costly errors proving the difference between the two sides.

Auckland snapped up the first pointer of the match within the first 2 minutes after a lapse in concentration early on. The Vulcan’s converted to take a 6-0 lead.

A brilliant show and go by Josh Lewis sore him dart through the defensive line without a hand laid on him drawing in the fullback and offloading to Scott Porter on the inside who crossed under the posts. Lewis converted taking the score to 6-6.

In the 19th minute, Sharks fullback Jamen McLeod was next to cross for the home side after the ball was spread wide for him to cut back on the inside, beat off one defender and reach out for the white line. Lewis had no problems converting to make it 12-6.

In the 22nd minute, some lazy defence by the Sharks once again sore them pay, when the Vulcans crossed on the left flank. Five eighth, Patrick Ah Van, received the ball out wide before stepping back on the inside to duck and dive over the line. He converted his own try to level the score at 12-a-piece.

The away side started building momentum when they crossed for their third try just minutes later. Winger Johnny Aranga crossed in the left-hand corner after a cutout ball hit him on the chest with the try-line in front of him. A failed conversion left the score 12-62.

The Sharks hit back though with a try in the left western corner converted by Lewis, taking the score to 18-16. However, the Vulcans scored the final try of the first half and went into the break 18-22 in front.

Both sides came back out from the sheds switched on, sharing the possession for the first ten minutes until Ricky Leutele crossed for the Sharks fourth try of the afternoon with Lewis converting from the sideline taking the score to 24-22 in their favour.

The Sharks looked to build their lead, when Herman Retzlaff punched through a hole to fall over the line but Lewis failed to convert leaving score at 28-22. Adam Cuthbertson was again a stand out, with numerous hit-ups, offload and tackle busts giving the Sharks plenty of opportunities.

The Vulcans immediately bounced back however with an error by Lennon gifting the New Zealand side a chance straight away which they took full advantage of despite a failed conversion leaving the score at 28-26.

Johnny Aranga soon crossed for his second try of the night, after some quick dummy half running by the Vulcans, provided the winger with an opportunity to take advantage of the slow defensive line. Score went out to 28-32.

In the 76th minute, a chip and chase by the Vulcans saw Patrick Ah Van re-gather the ball and stroll over the line and covert the try.

The game looked to be over with 3 minutes remaining but some individual brilliance by Lewis saw him put in a right-foot step close to the line and break through the defence to score. He quickly converted the try but it was too little too late as the Vulcans ran out 38-34 winners.