The Otago Whalers caused an upset when they beat the West Coast Chargers 30-20 in their third-round clash in the southern zone competition at Wingham Park in Greymouth.
The Whalers had the arduous task of travelling to Greymouth via two vans the day before Saturday's match, but it had no effect as they ran in six tries to four in their win.
The Chargers opened the scoring midway through the half after an intense opening 20 minutes in which both teams hit hard on defence, before the Whalers responded with two converted tries.
West Coast scored first in the second spell, but Otago scored four tries to three in a half in which they made better choices on attack and played smarter rugby league.
Whalers coach David Reedy said he was "excited, pleased and proud" of his team.
"It is not often an Otago team goes to the West Coast and wins, not for five years at least".
Reedy singled out second-rower Dexter Buchanan as player of the day. He said Buchanan had a huge work rate and ran hard at the defence throughout the match.
Centre Kenneth Hemopo was the pick of the backline, scoring two second-half tries and having a busy all-round game.
In the fourth round of the Otago spring competition, the South Pacific Raiders ended the South City Dragonz' unbeaten run with a 26-20 win at Hancock Park on Saturday.
The Raiders held a 16-12 lead at halftime, outscoring the Dragonz three tries to two, before the Dragonz came back with two tries in the second half to lead 20-16 with 10 minutes to play.
But the Raiders held their composure to scored two tries before fulltime to close out the win.
Raider's fullback Hamish Buick had a fine game, scoring two tries and having a high work rate, while Dragonz prop Mark Scoullar ran hard and was a menace for the Raiders defence.
Pirates scored eight tries to four to give University its first loss of the competition, 40-22. The students struggled to get a full side on the pitch and trailed 12-10 at halftime.
Pirates was more physical and dominated the second half, outscoring a tiring University side five tries to two.
A nasty ankle dislocation to Kaikorai Silverbacks prop Nuu Vaeau marred their win over the Kia Toa Tigers. With an ambulance arriving, the match was called off 10 minutes early, the Silverbacks winning 38-4.
The Harbour Hawks smashed the Dragonz B 60-6 in an 11-tries-to-one rout after leading 32-6 at halftime.
