If Southern beats Hawke's Bay United in Napier tomorrow and Tasman United loses to Waitakere United, Southern will finish in the top half of the national football league.
Lose, and Southern will fall to seventh.
A draw for Tasman would have it remain fifth, owing to a better head-to-head record against Southern.
That is the equation heading into the last weekend of the regular season.
Southern is in sixth place on 21 points, two behind Tasman and two in front of Hawke's Bay.
A Southern win and a Tasman loss would put Southern clear in fifth, which would be Southern's best finish in the history of the league.
While it has previously finished fifth - most recently in 2010 as Otago United - that was in an eight-team league.
With 10 teams now in the league, it would be Southern's first time finishing in the top half.
That would be quite an achievement, considering the team came last a year ago and the last time it did not finish in the bottom two was 2012.
The playoffs remain another step up, however.
The top four of Auckland City, Team Wellington, Canterbury United and Eastern Suburbs have clearly separated themselves from the pack.
Auckland City - on 37 points - should claim the minor premiership as it faces the second-bottom Wellington Phoenix Reserves.
Team Wellington is favourite to lock in second spot, on 34 points and with a match against the bottom-placed Hamilton Wanderers to come.
Canterbury is on 33 and Eastern Suburbs a point behind. The teams will play each other to decide third and fourth position.
