Penalties are cruel. That was the unfortunate reality yesterday for the Southern Men, who missed out on a chance to pick up another win at the national league finals in Wellington.
Southern drew 1-1 with Midlands after extra time but slumped to a 3-0 loss in the shootout.
Midlands missed just one of its four attempts, while the jittery Southern players missed all three of their shots.
Midlands took the lead after 20 minutes with a Raynesh Smith goal. But Southern dominated the second half, and had three goals disallowed for various technical reasons.
Kane Russell finally got the equaliser from a penalty corner with 15 minutes to play.
Both sides got a competition point for the draw, with Midlands getting a second for winning the shootout.
Manager Ronald Hutton said Southern's defence was outstanding throughout the game.
Southern's next game is against North Harbour today.
"We've been competitive with every team and we believe we can beat Harbour," Hutton said.
Yesterday did not go quite as well for the Southern Storm, beaten 4-1 by powerful Auckland in the women's competition.
Black Ferns Katie Glynn and Krystal Forgesson each scored twice for Auckland, with Pip Symes getting the Storm's goal.
"We gave away a lot of penalty corners and that never helps," Southern manager Roni Dungey said.
"But overall, the girls played pretty well. It's been an intense week, and there are a few bumps and bruises, but the girls are getting to know each other."
Dungey said Symes played particularly well, and rising star Samara Dalziel had another good game.
The Storm's next game is against Midlands. There is a rest day tomorrow, with playoffs scheduled for the weekend.
