Ratana second-five Shaquille Docherty caught by the Utiku Old Boys defence in the second half at the Pa on Saturday.
Harvey Round Motors Ratana's sole chance of a victory in 2017 slipped away into the mud at the Ratana Pa as Utiku Old Boys rose above some unlucky judgement calls and a 14-man disadvantage to run out 36-20 winners on Saturday.
Utiku blew out the scoreline with three tries in the last seven minutes - a rarity for the Taihape squad - which belies the close nature of the game where the lead swapped hands six times.
Ratana rode their luck by being on the right side of some 50-50 calls in two of their first half tries, as their forwards made a steady stream of surges off the ruck, while Utiku made some costly fumbles and turnovers.
Veteran lock Isaac Fonotoe guided a pack where frontrowers Tyson Tauiri and Kereti Tamou hit the line hard, while young flanker Dale Akuhata was evasive and did a lot of cover work.
However, Utiku dug deep and were able to stop Ratana inches from their line on multiple phases at the start of the fourth quarter, despite the sinbinning of halfback Max Navas following repeated team infringements, and after giving up a penalty they immediately regained the lead with an opportunistic try and never looked back.
Second-five Brett Illston scored a hat trick in an exceptional performance, while dangerous winger Emori Lodoviko is now delivering on his potential as he ran the right lines and stayed composed to lay on several tries.
Names like prop Josh Hirini, lock Richard Minty and No8 Gordon Geogan have not often been sung this season, but they were inspiring with how they held up Ratana's crash and bash from their tight five.
"Down there [defending], that was the game for me, when they got there and only got a penalty," said Utiku coach Matt Gilbert.
"It's bloody hard to play here. Ratana, that passion's there - there's nothing like it in the comp."
Gilbert praised Illston, Lodoviko and fellow winger Saia Teumohenga for their execution at crucial moments.
"It's just about creating one-on-ones and they can do very well.
"We lost that mojo the last five weeks."
For Ratana, it has been a sad year where the old guard have tried to make sure there is enough left for their young players to want to stay on.
Original coach Andy Yarrall came and went pretty quickly, while the side's sole Steelform Wanganui representative in halfback Kane Tamou would up sticks to the Foxton club and straight into a Horowhenua-Kapiti jersey.
Part of the acting coaching staff, club legend Vaan Rauhina said up to 80 per cent of the current lineup is aged 20-22, and you can't teach experience.
"It's probably been the old theme, the story of our season.
"Done some really good things, but [not] doing it consistently the whole time.
"Been in that [leading] situation before, where the bounce of the ball didn't go our way."
Ratana made a great start, as the officials missed a slight knock-on at the lineout by young City College halfback Paddy Ririnui, and first-five Aaron Paranihi took advantage as he spotted the half gap, with Tauri and Fonotoe carrying it on, before Akuhata switched the ball to the other side of the ruck for lock Marius Joseph to dive over.
After Utiku spilled a chip kick in the muddy conditions, Ratana pounced again to spread the ball for Fonotoe to break through and score for 12-0.
But the visitors responded as Illston took a bounce pass and made a superb offload in traffic to Taemoenga, who ran to the outside of his chasers before popping the inside ball back to Illston.
Utiku would then struggle to score again after a series of fumbles, with Ratana running it back at them, before Lodoviko came infield looking for work and dummied his way into a gaping hole - looking for options before backing himself to run deep into Ratana territory before setting Illston up to get a double, as Navas sideline conversion gave his team the lead.
But Ratana responded approaching halftime as centre Scott Komene made a strong run, followed by Akuhata, with Fonotoe popping the ball over the top to Joseph, as Ratana maintained control in the far corner for winger Nikora Ririnui to score, which referee Kawana Tihema allowed to stand despite late communication from the touch judge there was a forward pass in the movement.
Tempers became short after that, with Tihema warning both captains about back-chat.
Utiku were then under pressure when Navas was ruled to have carried a Ratana kick into his in-goal back over the line, leading to a 5m scrum, but the visiting forwards managed to hold the line and clear.
The visitors probably figured they were coming right, despite stealing lineouts and scrums only to lose the ball, when Lodoviko again spied his chance out side and ran through a big gap and this time erratic fullback Guy Heard's hands did not let him down as he dashed off for a 60m try.
However, Ratana fullback Te Oranga Whareaitu made a great run after a midfield kick recovery, as Ratana nearly scored in the far corner, with Navas being sinbinned for a professional foul.
Ratana kept pounding the line and were just denied a try in the corner, before Paranihi opted for the penalty to give them back the lead 20-19.
But it all fell apart immediately for Ratana at the restart as they were tired on cover defence, with Teumohenga turning over a spilled ball to sprint 45m and swan dive into the far corner to regain the advantage.
Feeling it now, Utiku charged down a Ratana clearing kick and the ball evaded both chasers and defenders until reserve Jake Anderson dived on it to make the game safe at 29-20.
But the visitors still weren't done as reserve Scott Illston climbed through tacklers and fed Navas, who popped it back to him, before the ball was transferred wide from the ruck for Brett Illston to slip inside one tackle and beat another on the way to his trifecta at fulltime.
Utiku Old Boys 36 (Brett Illston 3, Guy Heard, Saia Teumohenga, Jake Anderson tries; Max Navas 3 con) bt Harvey Round Motors Ratana 20 (Marius Joseph, Issac Fonotoe, Nikora Ririnui tries; Aaron Paranihi pen, con). HT: 17-14 Ratana.