Down 10-17 at halftime after struggling to get any sort of consistent ball, Otago upped the intensity in the second spell, their work at the breakdown and at scrumtime laying the base for an upset win.
Both teams started strongly, but Otago struck early. First five-eighth Glenn Dickson ran strongly when he found himself in space as the Bay of Plenty defensive line was slow to regroup.
He found Eben Joubert on his shoulder, who in turn linked with Ben Smith for the fullback to score after just five minutes.
It didn't take long for Bay of Plenty to reply, as they followed up a Mike Delany penalty with an opportunist try to lock Culum Retallick after captain Colin Bourke took a quick tap just 10 metres out.
A second Bay of Plenty try to loose forward Luke Braid right on halftime, duly converted by Delany, gave Bay of Plenty a solid if unspectacular 17-10 halftime lead.
But Otago came back fighting in the second half, Smith picking up his second try of the match with some impressive football skills in controlling the ball after Dickson toed it ahead.
Dickson put together an assured game for Otago, in just his second game for the province, his tactical kicking astute and his place kicking accurate.
Otago were boosted by the return of Charlie Hore, playing his first game for the province in two years and bringing some much-needed experience to the back line.
They were also bolstered by new All Blacks lock Tom Donnelly, returning immediately to the provincial fray for Otago following his debut in last week's 33-6 win over the Wallabies.
Bay of Plenty seemed to lose composure and their case wasn't helped when Braid was yellow carded with just over 15 minutes to go for a dangerous tackle on Otago centre Brett Mather.
The win will provide a huge boost in confidence for Otago, who move three places up the table and will now be targeting a win over Taranaki in New Plymouth next Saturday.
