North Otago fell 41-22 to South Canterbury in Oamaru on Saturday and slipped out of the race for the top four.
It goes into the final round of Heartland rugby in ninth place on 17 points. It is a point behind Mid Canterbury and West Coast and five points behind Wairarapa Bush, which lies in sixth place on 21 points, and will host North Otago on Saturday.
North Otago coach Nigel Walsh cut a frustrated figure after the game.
"We promised a lot but delivered not enough to be fair," he said.
"There were too many mistakes, too many opportunities missed.
"When we held on to the ball we showed that we were pretty good at it, but then we would revert to individuality again.
"Our chance of making the top four has gone, so we’ve just got to see what other results come through and if we can make the Lochore Cup four."
North Otago created ample opportunities, especially in the first half. But the ball carrier was lacking support too often after breaking the South Canterbury defence line.
"We put South Canterbury under pressure. They’ve been pretty proud of their scrum but we put pressure on and dominated it.
"But there were too many turnovers and too many mistakes that let South Canterbury get away from us.
"Against a good side like South Canterbury you’ve got to play the full 80 minutes."
South Canterbury hit the front after a couple of minutes when blindside flanker Timote Tuipolotu scored.
North Otago came back three minutes later when No 8 Mika Mafi surged over from an 5m scrum.
But midway through the half South Canterbury unleashed its pace out wide when left winger Kalavini Leatigaga raced 60 metres to score. Moments later right winger Setefano Sauqaqa bolted away, and centre Shayne Anderson also crossed before the break.
In the final act of the first half, North Otago halfback Inoke Naufahu went over after collecting a pass from Mafi.
Tuipolotu and Leatigaga scored another try each as the game drifted away from North Otago.
The home side had the final say when left winger Francis Kelly scored from a tap penalty.
Heartland points going into the final round next Saturday are: Wanganui (34), South Canterbury (27), Thames Valley (27), King Country (26), Horowhenua-Kapiti (23), Wairarapa-Bush (21), Mid Canterbury (17), West Coast (17), North Otago (16), Poverty Bay (15), Buller (11), and East Coast (1).
- Terry O'Neill
Heartland Championship
The scores
South Canterbury 41
Timote Tuipolotu 2, Kalavini Leatigaga 2, Setefano Sauqaqa, Shayne Anderson tries; Willie Wright 4 con, pen
North Otago 22
Mika Mafi, Inoke Naufahu, Francis Kelly tries; Josh Buchan 2 con, penHalftime: 28-17