Shifting Woes

[Almag6]

1996 Johnson 225, J225STLEDM
Concealed side mount

On the trailer, boat will shift fine from N to F, F to N, N to R, R to N. No issues. Kicking the prop to test and its fine.
Under power is a different story.
N to F no problem
F to N BIG problem. The shifter goes into neutral, but the boat is still in forward. As you can imagine, this causes issues at the dock.
N to R no issue.
R to N no issue.

I replaced water pump over winter. Double checked shift rod height 2x. (I guess I could still be wrong). I've adjusted and readjust the cable/trunion. I'm at wits end. Last year, it acted the same way but I could "bump" the shifter a little towards Reverse and she'd go into neutral fine. As long as the driver knows this, no problems. This year, it won't let me bump into neutral while under power?"

So, while gliding into the dock, I pull the kill switch, motor shuts down and glides in. I can immediatley start the engine and it will be in nuetral. It's like it just falls into place if its not under power? Oh, It acted the same with 2 different lower units.
Thoughts
Shift rod height?
cable stretched?
control box whacked?

[Bighare2]

I would be very suspect of a worn shift cable. 1996 engine. 25 plus years old. Cables don’t stretch but the interior lining of the cable jacket wears, especially in the areas of curves and turns. The tighter the bend at the engine, the greater chance for wear. When under load, engine running, a lot more effort is required to disengage the clutch dog. The clutch dog and the mating engagement lugs in the gears have a 2 degree undercut to help hold the clutch dog into engagement. The higher the idle speed the higher the effort needed to disengage things.
If the cable is worn, don’t cheap out of the replacement. Go for the hi efficiency version.

[Almag6]

appreciate the input. Will get one coming.