There are a few points to catch up, but Southern United is well-among the playoff contenders in the national league.
At the halfway mark the side has 11 points - one more than it managed in all of last season - and is in sixth place. That has come from two wins, five draws and two losses.
It is a congested table though, with only five points separating third to ninth places.
Out in front is Auckland City, with 19 points and a game in hand.
It has dropped just five points - two of which came in a draw against Southern - and has a two point and one game buffer over second placed Team Wellington.
Alongside that, it has conceded just seven goals all season - five of which came in the first two weeks - while it has scored 29.
Its extra game is to be against Eastern Suburbs, which is in third on 14 points.
Also on 14 points is Waitakere United, which had a three-match winning streak snapped by Suburbs in a 2-0 loss on Sunday.
One point back - although still with a game in hand against the Wellington Phoenix Reserves - is Canterbury United.
After a slow start, Canterbury has hit form and its loss to Team Wellington was the only points it has dropped over the past five weeks.
One point behind Southern is Tasman United, which has slowed down after a fast start.
The side won its opening two games - including a 1-0 upset of Canterbury - but has been unable to manage another win.
In eighth is the Wellington Phoenix Reserves, with nine points and a game in hand.
That was largely thanks to two wins and two draws from the last four games.
They followed three hefty losses to the league's heavyweights.
Following the same trend as Tasman has been Hawke's Bay United, which is also on nine points.
It was unbeaten through its first four games, but has managed only one point since losing to Southern in the fifth round.
Trailing well back in last place in Hamilton Wanderers, with a solitary point, achieved in a 2-2 draw against Southern.
The league now takes a two week break and Southern is set to kick things off again on January 6, against Eastern Suburbs, in Auckland.
