The Southern Dogs kept their National Hockey League semifinal prospects alive with a quality 2-1 win against Midlands in Whangarei yesterday.
The news was not positive for the Southern Storm, which was thrashed 8-1 by Midlands and is anchored at the foot of the competition table.
The Dogs' win, though, saw them climb to fourth in the standings and a win against Central tomorrow could secure the Southerners a semifinal spot.
Coach Dave Ross was thrilled with his side's effort.''
They came out firing and got a goal up ... and had the measure of the game, to be honest,'' Ross said.
''We dominated in the midfield and our strikers were getting a lot of opportunities.
''We couldn't score from our corners, unfortunately, which meant we couldn't really put Midlands away.''
Kieran O'Connor opened the scoring in the earlier stages of the second quarter and Richmond Lum added another shortly after halftime.
Midlands' frustration bubbled over late in the third quarter and James Linehan was red-carded after lashing out with his elbow.
But his side did manage a late consolation through Des Abbott.
In the other men's games yesterday, Auckland beat Canterbury 2-1 and remains undefeated after five games.
North Harbour prevailed 4-3 against Central and Northland played Capital in the late game.
The Southern Storm's miserable tournament only got worse yesterday.
The 8-1 loss to Midlands means the winless Southerners have now conceded 27 goals.
They did manage to add to their meagre goal tally (5), though, with Kelly Nicholson scoring in the ninth minute.
The Storm, which plays Central tomorrow, trailed 2-1 at halftime but Midlands added a third after the break and then whacked in five goals in six minutes during a frenetic final quarter.
Black Sticks striker Gemma Flynn slotted a brace and six other Midlands players also got on the score sheet.
Storm coach Rod Rzepecky felt the lopsided scoreline was not an accurate reflection of the match.
''It was 2-1 and then 3-1 for a long time but with eight minutes to go, they put in five goals,'' he said.
''It was a touch of class from them and their Blacks Sticks really stepped up.''
They just ran over us in the end, which was a shame, because I thought we were good for 2-1 or 3-1.
''We felt we were there or thereabouts and doing really well, but probably went to sleep a little bit. Perhaps we were just tired, because it was a quick game.''
In other women's games yesterday, Central defeated North Harbour 3-0 and Northland beat Capital 4-2.
Auckland and Canterbury contested the late game.
