Southland remain on track for an unwanted Mitre 10 Cup record, with a 26-22 loss to Bay of Plenty in Invercargill.
The far-southerners have now dropped 19 consecutive national provincial rugby championship games, equalling the previous standard for mediocrity set by Northland in 2014-16.
They now face the near-impossible task of toppling premiership powers Auckland to avoid the record.
Now out of championship contention, Bay of Plenty quickly showed they were in an unsympathetic mood, putting winger Bailey Simonsson over for a try in the corner just four minutes into the contest.
Seven minutes later, the Steamers forward pack carried hooker Tom Crozier over for a second and they held an early 12-0 advantage.
But the Stags showed some heart - wing Lewis Ormond opened the scoring for his side and when prop Morgan Mitchell rumbled over from close range, James Wilson converted to have the home team trailing just 19-12 at half-time.
After the break, Southland pressured the Bay line and were finally rewarded with a long-range try from Isaac Te Tamaki, converted by Wilson to draw even.
Wilson kicked his team into a lead with 12 minutes remaining, but Steamers lock Kane Leaupepe broke southern hearts, when he stormed over for a go-ahead try five minutes later.
With lock Ben Fotheringhm yellow-carded, short-handed Southland had a chance to strike back with time up, but turned the ball over on the goal-line and Bay cleared for victory.
Southland must regroup quickly, before hosting Auckland on Wednesday for the record. Bay of Plenty wrap up their campaign against Northland in Tauranga.
Bay of Plenty 26 (Bailey Simonsson, Tom Crozier, Lewis Ormond & Kane Leaupepe tries; Kaleb Trask 2 & Luke Campbell conversions) Southland 22 (Lewis Ormond, Morgan Mitchell & Isaac Te Tamaki tries; James Wilson two conversions & penalty)
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