Northland have kept their chances of a National Provincial Championship post-season berth afloat with a heart-stopping 23-21 win over Bay of Plenty at Tauranga.
A late penalty edged the Steamers ahead with just minutes to play and when they earned a scrum with time expired, closing out a quarter-final-clinching win seemed a mere formality.
But the Taniwha pack - anchored by All Blacks prop Ofa Tu'unagfasi - had other ideas. A mammoth shunt earned a penalty against the feed, setting the scene for Dan Hawkins to slot the matchwinning penalty from 40m out, causing an eruption on the Cambridge Blue bench.
The win was Northland's first at Tauranga Domain since 1991. Another against strugglers Manawatū at Kaikohe on Sunday could be enough to secure their place in the final eight, pending the result of Auckland's (v Taranaki at Eden Park) and Tasman's (v Hawke's Bay at Napier) games.
Although the defeat snaps their four-game winning streak, the Steamers remain second in the odds conference and on track for the quarters.
Bay of Plenty broke the contest's tryscoring deadlock in the 19th minute, when a textbook rolling maul from a five-metre lineout saw flanker Veveni Lasaqa emerge with the ball.
The Taniwha's response was swift, as fullback Josh Moorby sliced open the Steamers defence from 22m out to go in next to the posts.
Just a couple of minutes out from the break, No.8 Matt Matich barged over in the corner to boost Northland's halftime advantage to 15-5.
A pair of penalties reduced Bay of Plenty's deficit to four points, until powerful wing Jone Macilai brushed off two tacklers to bulldoze his way over out wide for Northland's third try, extending their lead to 20-11 with a quarter of the match remaining.
With the match slipping away, the Steamers looked to gamebreaker Emoni Narawa and the wing immediately delivered, carving a trail through the Taniwha defence, before finding Luke Donaldson with a deft one-handed offload to score and make it a two-point game with just over 10 minutes to play.
The Steamers soon had the lead back, when Wharenui Hawera banged over a penalty to edge a point ahead.
Northland piled on the pressure late in one final push for victory. The Steamers defence seemed to have done enough to hold out, until the pivotal penalty against the feed led to Hawkin's heroics.
Bay of Plenty face Waikato in their final conference game of the season at Hamilton on Sunday, where a win should lock up a home quarter-final.
Northland 23 (Moorby, Matich, Macilai tries; Reihana conversion & penalty, Hawkins penalty) Bay of Plenty 21 (Lasaqa, Luke Donaldson tries; Hawera conversion & 3 penalties)