As has been the case all season, it had the better of the play but failed to take its chances.
Paul Ifill showed his class for the hosts, scoring the first of four goals in the 14th minute after Southern created good chances and looked to be on top.
His second goal, in the 28th minute, extended the lead before a Danny Furlong header allowed Southern to peg one back.
Ifill scored again just after the break, setting up Tinashe Marowa to make it 4-1.
Furlong added one from the spot for Southern, and Ifill collected his fourth to condemn the visitors to another loss.
"Unfortunately, it was probably similar to what’s been our downfall this year," coach Paul O’Reilly said.
"We haven’t quite done enough in an attacking sense.
"We’ve created lots of chances but haven’t taken enough of them and today was similar again — we just conceded some poor goals."
He said the team had the better of the possession stakes, had more chances, more shots on goal and more time in the final third. However, he noted the scoreline was important and that was where Southern came up short.
"Across the season, we think we’ve made loads of progress. We’ve closed the gap, we’ve created chances, we’ve dominated possession, we’ve played with purpose.
"But we’ve just got to be realistic and say we just conceded at the wrong times and we just haven’t scored enough goals across the year."
The side, which finishes with a three-win, one-draw, 14-loss record, would have a review before preparing for next season.
Players would be given training programmes and spend the next six to eight weeks with their clubs.
An extended squad would then be chosen to begin training for the new season. That would allow them to begin preparations five months earlier than last year.
O’Reilly said player recruitment would be important and the side would look across all avenues to bolster its squad.
The national football premiership semifinals will be played next weekend, while the final will be held in Auckland on Sunday, April 2.
