Poverty Bay looked classy in the first half, leading 29-12 at halftime, but the torrid pace of the first 40 minutes took its toll as North Otago roared back to outscore the visitors 31-5 in the second half.
Fullback Chris Talanoa opened the scoring in the second minute after a Ralph Darling break in midfield but six minutes later, the Poverty Bay onslaught began, with tighthead prop Seymour Lambert crashing across for second five-eighth Moss Doran to convert.
Seven minutes later, North Otago winger Simeli Koniferedi made ground but at the breakdown North Otago turned over the ball and halfback Sam Parks ambled in for a try.
Doran converted to take Poverty Bay out to a 14-5 lead.
Midway through the half, a Lemi Masoe break put Koniferedi in for a try which Stephen Fenemor converted to reduce the deficit to two points.
Poverty Bay dominated the second quarter. Doran slotted a penalty, lock Everard Reid touched down for Doran to convert and two minutes from halftime Rico Gear on the right wing had too much pace and power to score wide out, to give Poverty Bay a 29-12 halftime lead.
North Otago co-coach Mike Mullins was philosophical.
''We wanted to keep our season alive and it was pretty much we had to win to give us a realistic shot at making the Meads Cup playoffs,'' Mullins said.
''This week we got five points. In the second half we had to back ourselves and most importantly we had to tackle.
''In the first half, every time Poverty Bay got the ball it looked as though they could score. We knew at halftime that if we kept the ball we could score points although to do that we had to tackle as well.
''It was all about being accurate in the terms of finishing off the chances when we got them. We did that well in the second half backed up by some individual brilliance from a couple of players. We would have taken an ugly win at the start of the week but the dressing room is a bit more upbeat after today's game.''
Four minutes into the second half, it was again front rower Ralph Darling who sparked an attack and left winger Tenina Sauileoge raced 50m to score for Fenemor to convert.
Six minutes later Talanoa counterattacked from the back, Darling toed the ball ahead and the front rower outpaced the opposition to score. Replacement five eighth Ben Palmer converted to make it 29-26. Palmer then added a penalty midway through the half to tie it up at 29-29.
Nine minutes from fulltime North Otago captain, Josh Clark, who had an inspirational game, broke from a lineout on the Poverty Bay 22m line and replacement flanker Willie Tahitua was touching down to put North Otago out to a 36-29 lead with Palmer's conversion.
Poverty Bay hit back with a Murray Hewson try but, just on fulltime, another Masoe break opened up Poverty Bay and big lock Sale Pi'i had too much pace and power,
touching down in the corner. Palmer, from the sideline, kicked the conversion to give North Otago an invaluable five points in the competition.
In other games, Buller and South Canterbury lead the competition with wins respectively over East Coast (67-6) and West Coast (49-15).
Thames Valley, which drew 19-19 with Horowhenua-Kapiti in the first round, defeated King Country 15-10 and Horowhenua-Kapiti downed Wanganui 34-23. Wairarapa-Bush in Masterton held Mid Canterbury to a 23-23 draw.
By Terry O'Neill.
Heartland Championship
The scores
North Otago 43
C Talanoa, T Sauileoge, S Koniferedi, R Darling, W Tahitua, S Pi'i tries; S Fenemor 2 con; B Palmer pen, 3 con
Poverty Bay 34
C Lambert, S Parks, E Reid, R Gear, M Hewson tries; M Doran pen, 3 con
Halftime: 29-12 Poverty Bay
