Winning dirty is just losing on a delay.

A result taken by cheating settles the scoreboard and leaves the real question open, which means you will meet it again in a form you cannot manage the same way. The win also cannot be enjoyed properly, since you know exactly what it is made of. The delay is the entire trick, and it is a short one.

If you are so far behind that only the crooked route reaches the target, consider revising the target rather than the method. Lose this one cleanly and study what it shows you. A real loss teaches; a false win leaves nothing to work from.