Auckland 10 Northland 8
Auckland have held on to edge Northland 10-8 in a low-scoring national provincial cross-over match at Eden Park on Saturday.
Premiership outfit Auckland, coming off an equally narrow 16-14 loss to Counties Manukau last week, weren't convincing but did enough to secure their first win of the competition.
Both teams made too many mistakes to enforce any sort of control, Auckland's gritty defence probably proving the deciding factor.
Northland opened the scoring after 12 minutes with a Peter Breen penalty after Auckland fullback Jordan Trainor had been binned for a dangerous challenge in the air.