The win has lifted Southern to 17 points from six games, and the Dogs cannot be knocked out of the top four with only one round of pool play remaining.
Inglis opened the scoring in the first few minutes when he dribbled his way around the goalie and slotted the ball in the net.
He banged in a penalty stroke shortly before halftime to make it 2-0 and extended the margin to three goals when he got a deflection.
But having got into a comfortable position, Southern started to fade. Central scored two goals in the last 10 minutes.
Southern has played four games in four days and coach Dave Ross said his team showed signs of fatigue.
''This was our fourth game in a row and we came up against a team fresh from the rest day,'' Ross said.
''The second half was hard work. We missed a few opportunities that we should have put away, but that was just fatigue. That happens when you're tired.''
Inglis is the tournament's leading scorer with nine goals from six games.
Southern plays Northland today. It is essentially a dead rubber, but Ross said it was important his side maintained its standards.
In the women's competition, the Southern Storm produced an improved effort against Auckland, losing 2-0.
The Storm has lost six games in a row and has given up 24 goals while putting only two in the net.
However, if it can beat Central today, Southern will get a better draw for the crossover match and potentially still finish as high as fifth.
''Central has always been one of our target teams,'' coach Sam Brown said.
''It is a big game for us and we are treating it like our quarterfinal. We want to get a win and it is very important for us because it will place us seventh.
"That gives us a chance of reaching our target of getting into the playoff for fifth and sixth.''
