It was always going to be a tall order.
Playing its second game in four days, Southern United was beaten 3-1 by Auckland City at Kiwitea Park yesterday.
An understrength side took the field in the rescheduled fixture saw with several of Southern's first-choice players missing due to midweek commitments.
Youngsters Josh Dijkstra, Ben Wade and Riley Anderton were given starts, while Jack Pirie, Ben O'Farrell and Tennessee Kinghorn were handed chances in the second half.
There was no tougher challenge than facing Auckland City away for those players to walk into.
It was a side that had won its past two matches 4-1 and 5-0 and went three points clear at the top of the table with yesterday's win.
For a time yesterday, it looked as though the home side was going to pile up a similar score as it shot out to a 3-0 lead within 50 minutes.
But Southern did not fold. It battled back to hold Auckland City out for the final 40 minutes and managed a goal of its own in the 86th minute.
Former Dunedin player Cameron Howieson, a midseason transfer from Team Wellington, opened the scoring in the 17th minute.
He unleashed with an outstanding strike to put the ball past keeper Dijkstra. Clayton Lewis then found the back of the net in the 37th minute, finishing well off a corner to take the score to 2-0. That was how things remained at halftime, before Ryan de Vries crossed to Emiliano Tade, who made it 3-0 in the 50th minute.
O'Farrell pegged one back for Southern in the 86th minute, his first national league goal.
The team now has the weekend off before an away game against Hawke's Bay United on March 4. It then plays its final game of the season against Tasman United on March 18.
Auckland City's win means it has booked a spot in the top four, moving to 33 league points.
Team Wellington is next on 30, while Eastern Suburbs and Waitakere United round out the top four with 28 and 27 points.
Hawke's Bay United is knocking on the door with 26 though, while Canterbury United is still a chance on 24.
Southern remains a chance of breaking out of the bottom two. It is in last place with 10 points, trailing Hamilton Wanderers by three and Tasman United by four.
-By Jeff Cheshire
