It was a match that neither team seemed to want to win.
And in the end, neither did.
Valley and Albion played out a rare draw at the Showground's, both finishing with 111 - a superstitious number for cricketers - in round three of North Otago senior cricket on Saturday.
With the scores tied in the 37th over, Albion's Paul O'Dell completed his first five-wicket bag of the season, getting Valley number nine James McNally to hit an inside edge back onto his stumps with the fourth ball of his ninth over as the teams split the points.
In a dramatic finish, first Valley, then Albion, then Valley again, had opportunities to take the win and the 10 points.
McNally picked off a six over the square leg boundary off Brad Kernahan in the 35th over, putting Valley within five runs of victory with two wickets remaining. Albion grounded two caught-behind catches in the tense closing stages off Blair Rawson, but Rawson got his wicket when he bowled Stan Mansfield to leave Valley needing four runs with one wicket in hand.
O'Dell who hit an invaluable 31 not out in Albion's innings to get them into three figures, replaced Kernahan but a wide and two runs to McNally on a shot that pulled up just short of a winning boundary saw the scores level before the match-ending wicket came.
"It was a weird feeling, but it actually made it better after the game, nobody was terribly happy or too disappointed"
Both teams could possibly blame their bowling for the no-win, as both bowled 24 extras, which was the top scorer in Valley's innings. Valley bowled 17 wide's to Albion's 16. O'Dell finished with match-best figures of 5-25 from 8.4 overs.
The tied result left defending Borton Cup champions Valley bottom of the table still striving for their first win of the 07-08 season after three rounds, while Albion sit behind undefeated leaders Oamaru and second-placed Union.