The Northern Swords pulled off an upset win in the first round of the NZRL National Championship against Wellington Orcas.
Crowned the Northern Zone Champions the week previous, the Swords met the powerhouse Central Zone Champions, Wellington, in Takahiwai on Saturday for a chance to compete in the promotion/relegation game of the NZRL National Premiership competition.
The Swords looked to gain the early advantage with Cyrus Edwards, Ross McFarlane and Sepeti Tatu making inroads through the Wellington defence and giving Kiernan the chance to put the first points on the scoreboard.
Wellington struck back with their outside backs Ulai Oti and Aaron Whitikia finding a way through to level the score.
The Swords stepped up their defensive efforts, with Johnson and Salase forcing errors to take the lead 12-6 but once again Wellington answered with another backline move to end the half at 12-all.