They have had all the ball, and all the flair, in the world but just cannot find those finishing touches to execute when it matters most.
The Old Golds fell short again, losing 28-21 to Mid Canterbury in a back-and-forth encounter between the rivals in Weston on Saturday.
It was a frustrating end for the home side who had countless opportunities to steal the game.
They matched up well against Mid Canterbury who threw their heart into everything defensively, but just could not find the edge to break through.
The Old Golds sit 10th in the Heartland Championship and will need two wins from their final two games, and other results to go their way, to sneak a Lochore Cup playoff spot, or their long playoff streak will be over.
After the scores were locked 14-14 at halftime, the Old Golds controlled things after the break.
Camped in the 22m, North Otago chipped away until Mid Canterbury coughed up one too many penalties.
Former Otago halfback Kieran McClea copped a yellow card for disrupting the ball on the ground as the Old Golds looked for a quick tap.
From the ensuing lineout, the Old Golds had a strong maul, but when that collapsed they had several bites at the line that came up short.
They had chance after chance — and add in a couple more — during that passage and came up empty-handed.
Mid Canterbury were stoic defensively and were straight over the ball to snaffle it any chance they got.
No 8 Michael Hennings was huge in that effort.
They were rewarded when McClea’s pick-and-go pushed them down field.
Fullback Thomas Middleton held up a nice short ball, which put Nathan McCloy in under the posts.
North Otago sniffed hope when McCloy tried to clear but lock Fergus Read charged down the kick and the ball popped up for him to score.
But the Hammers hit back with a nice skip ball to put Toetu Touli over and take a 28-21 lead with 10 minutes to go.
The Old Golds squandered more opportunities and Mid Canterbury never let them in again.
Earlier, the Old Golds got off to a dazzling start thanks to fearless fullback Ben McCarthy.
He scampered on the outside to start a 50m effort and put winger Hayden Todd into space to finish off in the opening three minutes.
Two minutes later, Mid Canterbury flanker Declan McCormack hit back and levelled the scores.
Mid Canterbury marched their way into the danger zone just past the 20-minute mark.
After keeping things tight, the Hammers shifted the ball wide when McCarthy knocked it down, denying the visitors a chance to score.
That saw McCarthy sent to the bin and the Hammers awarded a penalty try in a double blow.
The Old Golds had some nice passages but again struggled to get over the line.
From a quick tap, Matthews found Read, who scored to level the game 14-14, even with a player down.
There were several blowout scores elsewhere on Saturday.
Thames Valley punished Buller 84-14, Whanganui thumped Wairarapa-Bush 56-17, King Country beat Poverty Bay 49-15 and West Coast beat East Coast 37-19.
Yesterday South Canterbury kept up their giant-killing run in beating Horowhenua-Kapiti 28-24 at Eden Park in Auckland.
Heartland Championship
The scores
Mid Canterbury 28
Declan McCormack, Nathan McCloy, Toetu Touli tries, penalty try; McCloy con, Thomas Reekie 2 con.
North Otago 21
Fergus Read 2, Hayden Todd tries; Greg Dyer 3 con.
Halftime: 14-14.
