Unfortunately for the sixth time in that stretch, it was also unable to keep its opponent out. A 20th-minute goal to the Wellington Phoenix Under-20s was enough to condemn Southern to a 1-0 loss at Forsyth Barr Stadium last night, its fifth of the season. It remains rooted to the bottom of the table, just one point to show for its efforts.
It was not all bad for Southern, as it dominated the second half, creating several chances and enjoying the better of possession. The inability to finish proved costly, however, as it failed to find the back of the net for the third week in a row.
That prevented it from digging itself out of the hole it found itself in when Max Mata finished on the left, after receiving a cross from Logan Rogerson, who had been put in space up the right side. It had seemed inevitable and was lucky it was not more, with two outstanding saves from Liam Little denying the Phoenix early.
Southern was forced to scramble several more times, as the Phoenix used their fast front line, putting the ball through into space behind the Southern defence. That defence scrambled well, although at the other end of the park the side hardly fired a shot, as offsides began to creep into its game.
The inability to put together a full 90 minutes and the slow starts were hurting the team, coach Paul O’Reilly said.
"We had a really poor start, looked off the pace for the first 20 minutes and conceded," O’Reilly said.
"Second half we were much better, dominated the whole half, but we’ve got to stop giving teams a goal at the start."
O’Reilly was still confident the team could score goals, with players to return, namely lively Irishman Eric Molloy, who has been struggling with injury since scoring a month ago.
"We’ve got one or two more players that will be back from injury next week and one or two more available. They’ll hopefully make that better for us, we’ll have some goals in the team I hope."
That does not hide the fact this team is a third of the way through its season and yet to have a win as it prepares to go to Wellington next weekend.
"Unfortunately it’s a run now without a win for a number of games and its a tough task against Team Wellington next week, but we need to go there and try and get some points."
