Northland were clearly a better team and it showed in the way they dominated almost all facets of play, particularly the scrum with All Black Ofa Tu'ungafasi in the front row.
Three games in nine days appeared to have taken its toll on the hosts and for all their ingenuity, resilience and sheer bloody-mindedness, they couldn't prise open the Northland defence.
There were some big hits upfront and while Northland had better control of the flow and rhythm of the game, Bay of Plenty were guilty of too many unforced errors that allowed the Cambridge Blues to score three well-worked tries.
The visitors started off strongly and their support line, offloading, and probing around the fringes worked a treat and Northland got on the scoreboard in just the third minute through a Rivez Reihana penalty.
Two Northland tries were ruled out by the television match official Shane McDermott, plus another where wing Jone Macilai's foot grazed the touchline during a burst down the short side.
Steamers' openside flanker Veveni Lasaqa opened the scores with a try off a lineout drive, just 5m away from the Northland try, inside the first quarter.
Northland replied through fullback Josh Moorby after receiving an inside pass from flyhalf Reihana, followed by another try to captain Matt Matich on the stroke of fulltime.
His try was referred to the TMO as it appeared Matich had lost contact of the ball inches from the tryline.
Bay of Plenty ramped up the pressure after the breather but the Northland was equal to the occasion with good swarming defence by their forwards in particular.
Macilai touched down for Northland's third try after breaking a tackle on the left wing and slipping just before the tryline but momentum got him over the line.
Steamers took a one point lead after replacement Emoni Narawa scored and Bay of Plenty hung in there, and forced Northland into mistakes in the dying stages.
With time almost up, Northland botched a lineout drive inside the Steamers' half. Referee Ben O'Keeffe ruled the Taniwha had a player in front of the ball carrier.
Following that, Macilai threw a pass backwards in a tackle but the ball was knocked on by Conán O'Donnell.
A scrum was called and Northland knew they could force a penalty as Bay
of Plenty struggled for the most part at scrum time.
The hosts scrum was shunted and O'Keeffe had no option but to award Northland a
penalty.
Northland is now sitting on 22 points, two points adrift of Tasman, and must win their last
game against Manawatu in Kaikohe on Sunday.
The Taniwha's cause will be helped if Tasman slip up against Hawke's Bay in Napier on Friday.
