Bay of Plenty's chances of reaching the semi-finals of the Air New Zealand Cup rugby competition have been dented after a 28-7 loss to North Harbour in Albany.
The homeside scored 3 tries to 1 to lift them to 10th, while the Bay are now 8th.
Southland thumped Tasman 41-nil to stay third, while Waikato beat Otago 35-29 to move into 4th.
Wellington could move into the top four with a victory over Northland in Whangarei this afternoon.
