They were undefeated in the 40-over matches played on Sundays when the Pay Excellence Hawke's Bay senior men's representative team played in the Chapple Cup (one-dayers) and Hawke Cup competitions (the symbol of minor association supremacy).
NTOB finished with 39 points, 18 ahead of the villagers who finished in a three-way tie on 21 points with Heretaunga Building Society Cornwall CC and the Scott Schaw-skippered CHB.
However, the sticking point with the overall champions has been the inability to flick the monkey off their backs in the limited-overs competition.
The Station Napier Old Boys' Marist not only beat NTOB in the 50-over competition but have an 11-point lead going into the remaining matches.
In a nutshell, NTOB can finish no worse than runners-up on the table but need NOBM to stumble in a game to give them a sniff of claiming that title as well.
It goes without saying the pain of losing the longer white-ball version bragging rights in the arduous road to the New Zealand Club Knockout Championship in Auckland in the week leading to the Easter weekend in April is still there.
"We still have to play them [NOBM] and, in our eyes, we're still capable of beating them," Diack said, alluding to the fact that the top four qualifiers - NOBM, NTOB, Havelock North and CHB - for the playoffs were decided but the remaining games would determine who would face each other in the semifinals.
"If the weather changes [and the game is abandoned] then it'll favour the top qualifiers [who will be declared winners]."
Diack said NTOB were third qualifiers last summer but went on to claim the crown.
Does it hurt not to be the Bay qualifiers this summer with the Bevin Pollock-captained NOBM flying the provincial flag and keeping alive hopes of becoming the best premier men's club side in the country?
"We choked in a game where we should have beaten them," he said, questioning the validity of Pollock and prolific NOBM runs scorer Mathew Sinclair's assertions of "we are the best team in the Bay and Central Districts".
"It was an emotional week with little things when we lost to them [NOBM] so we were flat and just couldn't do it," he said, emphasising the next time the sides faced off NTOB gave NOBM "a hiding".
NTOB haven't made the cut out of the Bay for the NZ club champs qualifying matches for the CD region in the past four summers.
"You have to win seven games to get there so it's a tough ask to do that but then we can't even get past the first hurdle," Diack lamented but congratulated NOBM for their accomplishment.
He lauded NTOB import Indika Senarathne, Bronson Meehan and Christian Leopard.
"Christian smashed 70 off 27 balls. I've never seen anyone of that age do that before," he said, adding the teen's runs came off clean shots, "not slogs".
