It started poorly, finished badly - and the bit in the middle was not too flash either.
In a game when their season was on the line, the blue and golds delivered their worst performance of the year, falling to Waikato 39-10, after trailing 28-3 at half-time in Hamilton last night.
Otago coach Steve Martin did not mince words after the game, saying he was bitterly disappointed with the effort and, at times, was embarrassed by the performance of his side in the first half.
Martin was 100% accurate for, at times, Otago was woeful.
After all, it was playing a side which before last night's game had managed two wins all season.
The visiting side just completely failed to fire.
Its attack was ill-directed and confused at times and its defence lacked any sort of urgency.
There was talk of desperation before the game - a must-win, putting it all on the line - but you would see more desperation from a teenager having to get out of bed in the morning than from Otago last night.
Although referee Bryce Lawrence will not get the keys to Dunedin after some of his decisions, especially at scrum time, Otago failed to get enough front-foot ball, fell off vital tackles, and turned over the ball too often.
It was out of the game just over halfway through the first half when Waikato scored its third try and, although it kept the damage to 10 points in the second half, it never looked likely.
There were just those silly errors which have plagued the side all season - the knock-ons, the ill-directed passes, and still the feeling not everyone knows what they are doing.
Waikato was urgent at the breakdown, but Otago just never got into enough attacking positions and, when it did, it coughed up the ball.
Although it was hard to point the finger at anyone, halfback Toby Morland continued a very average run of form as he failed to show any sort of leadership. He was too ponderous at the back of the ruck and lacked any urgency. And the lesser said about winger Lucky Mulipola the better.
Otago did score the first try of the second half, through winger Karne Hesketh, but by then the Waikato horse had well and truly bolted.
Martin did not hold back in his assessment of the game saying it was the poorest performance of the season by Otago.
"They were more aggressive than us. We had talked about it and having to come out and be aggressive. But they gained the momentum and we had no answer," Martin said.
"We failed to match them. I'm bitterly disappointed with the effort. To some degree I was embarrassed by some of the efforts in the first half in particular."
The game was as good as lost at half-time, Martin said and, although Otago played better in the second half, through the pick and go around the ruck, it was chasing the uncatchable.
Martin said the side had trained well during the week and talked about a quality 80min performance but it was stung by Waikato's opening and had no answer.
"We fell off tackles and then just could not hold them. Liam Messam is a quality footballer and hard to stop."
Waikato coach Tony Hanks said the side had got excited about playing knock-out football and, if it kept playing like this, it would give any team a good game.
Messam was the star for the home side, scoring three tries, although there was a hint of a shepherd for his third when he ran 60m, swatting off some ineffective Otago tackling.
He left the field at half-time with a hamstring injury but his job was done.
Otago's backline was looking ragged by the end of the game, with Ben Smith and Brett Mather going off with ankle injuries, both serious, while Daniel Bowden had a bang on the knee.
Bowden tried hard but was simply outnumbered, while Hesketh ran strongly. The Otago line-out was good and replacement hooker Pete Mirrielees was lively when he came on in the second stanza.
But it would be clutching at straws to look for a positive in this effort. Otago will be out of the top eight by the time this round ends.
• Waikato 39 (Liam Messam 3, David Bason, Sione Anesi tries, Callum Bruce 2 penalty goals, 4 conversions) Otago 10 (Karne Hesketh try, Daniel Bowden conversion, drop goal) Half-time: 28-3.
