A win which all who were there supporting the Highlanders gladly accepted.
For it was the first victory of the season for a side which deserved to be on the right side of the ledger after a painful and at times heartbreaking start to its campaign.
The match was a game of records, though the Crusaders in particular would not be keen to put them on their mantelpiece.
It was the lowest-scoring match in the 988 games of Super rugby played before last night.
It beat the 6-3 encounter played out by the Reds and the Brumbies two years ago in Brisbane.
It was also the first time the Crusaders had remained pointless throughout an entire 80 minutes in the competition.
Both sides were desperate and it showed.
The attitude in defence was first class, and few tackles were missed, but in attack neither side could quite find the final pass to put points on the board.
Much ball was spilled and many wrong options taken as players seemed to lose composure when attacking opportunities arose.
The Crusaders were not helped by the loss of captain Richie McCaw to a medial ligament sprain in his right knee after 30 minutes.
The match seemed to be headed for that rarest of events, a scoreless encounter, as the clock ticked past 60 minutes without even a penalty kick having been attempted.
But finally Crusaders first five-eighth Colin Slade had the first chance of the match, after Highlanders replacement prop Anthony Perenise was ruled to have been offside at a ruck, after 62 minutes.
Slade, though, pulled his kick wide from 40m straight out in front, and the scoreboard attendant remained unemployed.
Eventually, points arrived when, after 26 minutes of the second half, Perenise was hit by Brad Thorn in a tackle, with the big lock failing to use his arms correctly.
Referee Ian Smith spotted the indiscretion and Daniel Bowden's kick sailed between the posts from 22m out, 10m out from the sideline, to give the Highlanders the lead.
He added three more points five minutes later after replacement Crusaders flanker George Whitelock was sent to the sin bin after illegalities at the breakdown.
That left the Highlanders with about seven minutes to withstand the Crusaders attack, and some strong defence and good kicking enabled the home side to be victorious.
It was a gutsy stuff from the Highlanders, who showed they could put a game to bed once ahead, and to handle everything an admittedly limited Crusaders side threw at them.
Prop Chris King, not first choice at the start of the season, had an outstanding match.
He got around the paddock and gave his opposite, Ben Franks, a torrid time, at one point sending him skyward in a scrum.
Lock Josh Bekhuis had his best game in a Highlanders jersey and featured in general play.
Loose forward Adam Thomson showed why he was an All Black last year, shading his opposite, Kieran Read, and getting through a power of work on defence and pilfering ball at the breakdown.
Fellow loose forward Alando Soakai also had a fine match.
Captain Jimmy Cowan had the inevitable signs of rust in his first match back from injury, but was solid in defence, while Bowden showed some nice touches at times.
Ben Smith played well with limited chances while fullback Israel Dagg displayed plenty of enterprise and kicked well under pressure.
The Crusaders felt the absence of skipper McCaw but possibly more so centre Casey Laulala, whose hard, straight running would have helped immensely.
The best of the visitors were outside back Adam Whitelock , lock Ross Filipo, while hooker Jason Macdonald made some strong runs around the rucks.
Highlanders 6 (Daniel Bowden 2 penalty goals), Crusaders 0.
Half-time: 0-0.
Crowd: 12,000.
