His confidence always failed at the last moment because of his own sorry record as a family man.
The company took steps in 1985 to make a public stock offering but it failed at the last moment because of a legal technicality.
He thought she meant to make a polite farewell, but if that was her intention, it failed at the last moment.
He tries to get up the courage to go and talk to the girl, only to fail at the last moment.
He can also fly, but his flying power always seems to fail him at the worst possible moment.
But Mann had failed almost at the moment of triumph.
You failed me at the moment I needed you most.
Unfortunately, her creations don't always work the way she intends and have sometimes failed at just the wrong moment to cause the team trouble.
"They must have failed at exactly the moment you were trying to beam him out, Ensign."
He worked without haste, while days became weeks, determined that the ladder should not fail at the critical moment.
