/ab/
What about ahab?
START |a h a b a |a h a b Yes! b <a|h a b Nope START a|h a b a a|h a b Nope START a h|a b a a h|a b Yes! b a h<a|b Yes! END a h<a b> Yes!
We reached END, so the match succeeds; it found the ab part of ahab