The Southern Men's prospects of reaching the National Hockey League semifinals hinge on an unlikely upset against Auckland at North Harbour Hockey Stadium today.
Southern dropped out of the top four after suffering a 2-0 loss to Midlands yesterday and must beat an impressive Auckland side to remain in contention.
The Dunedin-based team has arguably had its best season since joining the league in 2004, but the campaign is beginning to unravel for the injury-ravaged southerners.
Former Black Stick James Nation has been struggling with a hamstring strain and is unlikely to take the field for the remainder of the tournament.
Experienced striker Chris Ashton has been laid low with the flu and talented midfield Damien Watson broke an ankle in the opening match against Central.
That has left coach Dave Ross with dwindling options and a vastly less experienced team, right when the competition is nearing its conclusion and he needs all the cool heads he can muster.
"I'm running out of my leaders," Ross exclaimed.
"Without James, Chris and Damien, I'm looking around and, by and large, I'm left with an under-18 team.
So it is a pretty difficult assignment now."
Auckland has dominated the tournament, winning its opening five games and piling on 22 goals while conceding just four.
The northerners have not won the title since 2001 but finished second in 2002, 2003, 2005 and 2008.
Defender and dragflick specialist Dwayne Rowsell has been in good touch, and Joseph Crooks and Adam McCelland have taken their scoring opportunities.
Southern will look to its imports James Bourke and Adam Clifford to generate play and defender Kane Russell for some penetration from the back.
In yesterday's match against Midlands, the Hamilton-based team dominated the first half and, without Nation at the back, Southern did well to stay in touch.
"They put a lot of pressure on us and we didn't cope very well. But in the second half we got a lot better and played some good hockey. We had quite a few opportunities but couldn't convert them.
"So 2-0 was probably a fair reflection."
In the women's tournament, the Southern Storm held Northland to a 1-1 draw.
The Storm is out of contention for the semifinals and will also play Auckland today.
