FOUR GAMES, one win.

As stark as that statistic might be, that's the reality for a stumbling Steamers side who went from the substandard to the ridiculous in losing 24-15 to Taranaki last night.

Fresh from a sluggish loss to Auckland, Bay of Plenty should have won running away. Their tight-five was vastly improved, they ruled the possession stakes and had countless scoring chances deep inside Taranaki's half.

Sounds like the ideal recipe for a win? Try the perfect punchline for a particularly humourless joke.

At least eight clear opportunities were blown in the last half hour of the game alone, thrown away with poor handling, dreadful passing or impatience.

Halfback Taniela Moa lost the ball over the line three-quarters of the way through, Toby Arnold's final pass fell astray with three minutes left after a Moa break and a Phil Burleigh chip went dead in the final play of the match.

Even the muted Yarrows Stadium spectators seemed embarrassed at having profited from such dross, despite the fact the win moved their team temporarily to the top of the table.

Despite the frustration, coach Sean Horan felt his players had improved dramatically from the Auckland debacle, although he admitted they were still only touching the edges of their potential.

"I'm not panicking," Horan said. "If we'd taken that opportunity in the 60th minute, we would have blown the game open.

"We let in some soft tries, didn't use the ball effectively in the first half but we created a lot of opportunities. I don't think we got the rub of the green with a lot of things as well - they slowed down our ball pretty effectively."

In a forgettable first-half, the Steamers' slow start effectively handed the game to the hosts, conceding three Taranaki tries.

Flanker Scott Waldron grabbed the first from their first real attacking chance, stretching forward in a tackle after a break from halfback Brett Goodin.

Jayden Hayward was gifted with the second, after Lelia Masaga dropped a poor pass in midfield, Taranaki wing David Smith toed ahead and Arnold, centre Brett Mather and No8 Colin Bourke made a hash of cleaning up.

Bourke made amends when his pack drove him over after half an hour, but then watched as Taranaki fullback Kurt Baker burst past him through a hole, before chipping ahead, chasing, regathering and offloading for Smith to score.

It left the Steamers 24-10 adrift.

Their only consolation from a mountain of possession in the second spell was Ben Smith's clinical finish of a Burleigh break, although Dan Waenga missed the kick from out wide that would have at least given a bonus point.

Horan's selections may have to be juggled for next week's match against North Harbour in Rotorua, with Grant McQuoid and Phil Burleigh destined to link up in midfield as the two most penetrating runners.

It's just a matter of a time before All Black pivot Mike Delany is called back into service as well, given the comfort he's been displaying in training, although he's still six weeks ahead of his predicted recovery from shoulder surgery.

Arnold begins his New Zealand sevens commitments with a training camp in Auckland on Monday, joined by back-up Solomon King and wing Jason Hona, who is covering for the injured King.