In a messy game that never had any flow Otago managed four tries, although looked far from the side that won so convincingly against Wellington last week.
The option-taking was poor, too many penalties were conceded and and too many mistakes made, preventing them from building any pressure. Northland, however, were just as poor, proving unable to pounce on the home side's errors.
Naulia Dawai got the scoring underway early, brushing off a tackle to cross out wide. The teams then exchanged two penalties each, taking the score to 11-6, before Matt Mattich crossed in the corner for Northland after Otago failed to secure a high ball.
With the scores level Fletcher Smith kicked a penalty to put Otago back in the lead, before a Jack Wilson try gave Otago a 19-11 lead at halftime.
The second half got off to the worst possible start, as Shane Neville broke away to score under the posts for Northland.
The game began to disintegrate from that point onwards, but an Otago try restored the eight-point gap. When Matt Faddes scored with seven minutes to go it looked as though Otago were in the box seat, but a Northland try with a minute to go gave them a chance for one last flurry.
Otago were able to hold on though, remaining unbeaten, while keeping Northland winless.