A gallant Bay of Plenty have fallen just short of the upset they needed to force their way into the Farah Palmer Cup premiership semifinals.

Up against top qualifiers Canterbury in the final game of the round robin in Tauranga on Sunday, the Volcanix needed a win against the odds to knock the Wellington Pride out of the fourth and final playoffs spot.

And in the end they indeed nearly produced it, before eventually falling to a 33-31 loss.

Down 26-12 at the break, the hosts produced a superb second-half fightback, but ultimately left their run too late with two tries in the final five minutes.

Kalyn Takitimu-Cook did have the chance to draw the game, when attempting to convert Renee Wickliffe's last-gasp try in the right corner, however her effort just slipped under the crossbar.

In addition to their try-scoring bonus point, that would have given the Volcanix three points and sat them level with the Pride, however, having lost to Wellington just last weekend, they would have lost out on the head-to-head tiebreaker anyway.

Stuff