North Otago will have to pray for another team to prevent the unthinkable happening.
The Old Golds bowed out of contention for top Heartland Championship honours with a thoroughly deflating 27-12 loss to West Coast in Greymouth on Saturday.
It means they will have to rely on one of three teams doing the decent thing and somehow stopping hated neighbour South Canterbury’s seemingly inevitable cruise to a third straight Meads Cup title.
North Otago, who at least extended their New Zealand record playoff streak to 23 years, will have to be content with chasing the second-tier Lochore Cup.
They will host Poverty Bay in one semifinal this Saturday, while a buoyant West Coast team will head north to play Wairarapa-Bush.
South Canterbury will host East Coast in one Meads Cup semifinal, and Whanganui will host Thames Valley in the other.
On the evidence of Saturday’s disappointing performance at John Sturgeon Park, the Old Golds will not have to create any more space in the trophy cabinet.
They were poor for very large periods of the game against the Coasters, and did not fire a shot in the second half.
They had led 12-10 at the break but failed to score a point in the second spell while letting the home side — playing into the wind, no less — run riot.
North Otago had a good scrum but that was about the only thing that operated well in Greymouth.
They were sloppy at times, predictable at others. They seemed to struggle with the intensity of their opposition, and their response to being put under the pump was highly underwhelming.
Old Golds prop Kelepi Funaki was the standout performer for the visitors, lock Taylor Dale hoed into his work, and winger Mone Samate looked dangerous but was again criminally under-used.
After West Coast took the lead from a fortuitous bounce off a botched North Otago lineout, the Old Golds scored a lovely try when Junior Fakatoufifita flicked a ball on, Samate and Tini Feke had touches, and fullback Lucas Ollion was on hand for the try.
West Coast captain Steve Soper gave his team the lead again, but the Old Golds took the advantage into halftime when Fakatoufifita broke the line on his side of halfway and centre Levi Emery streaked away to the line.
That excitement proved to be a false dawn as West Coast, inspired by Soper and livewire halfback Cleve Barrell, put the game away in the middle 20 minutes of the second half.
Any season without at least a chance to play for the Meads Cup is a disappointing one for North Otago. That they will most likely have to watch the old enemy on top of Heartland rugby yet again makes it all the more painful.
Heartland Championship
The scores
West Coast 27
Cleve Barrell 2, Josh Tomlinson, Steve Soper, Sione Lonitenisi tries; Logan Ross con.
North Otago 12
Lucas Ollion, Levi Emery tries; Ollion con.
Halftime: North Otago 12-10.
