Progress has been made and the results are now coming for the Southern United youth side.
After a tough start - in which it had its one win in its first four games overturned - the team is now coming off back-to-back victories in the national youth league.
Having toppled Hawke's Bay United 2-1 at Tahuna Park two weekends ago, it then beat the Wellington Phoenix youth team by the same score.
That leaves it with seven points and in seventh place on the table, with three rounds to go.
Despite that, the outcome is not the main focus for coach Kevin Scoullar.
With a young team - the majority of players being 17 or 18 years old - he was placing an emphasis on its processes, something that was beginning to show through.
''It's taken a bit of work. We're quite a young side this year,'' Scoullar said of the past two wins.
''So we're just looking at where we started from and where we're going.
''We're looking to build for the next couple, or three, years and get these guys up to scratch so we can get the local players back into the national league side.
''It's beginning from this point. The last two wins have been the accumulation of about 11-12 weeks' effort to be perfectly honest with you.
''The young lads are starting to really step up and understand what we're trying to achieve and where we're going.''
He said the team was learning to ''adapt on the run'' well, as it came up against different types of teams. The biggest improvements had come defensively.
Throughout the competition's first month the side conceded goals early and left it having to come back into the game.
However, it had been able to stem that lately.
For the first time this season it took the initial lead, against the Phoenix on Sunday.
While the home side then equalised, Southern was able to hit back to claim the win.
That first goal had come through Ben Kiore, who Scoullar said had been one of the outstanding players of the season.
He also praised defenders Andrew Cromb and Tim O'Farrell, both of whom had begun to gel well at the back.
He had been disappointed by the overturning of the side's win over Tasman United, which came as a result of a player being left off the team sheet.
However, he also respected the rules and admitted it was a mistake, albeit an ''innocent'' one.
With three games remaining, he hoped the side would continue improving, an emphasis being on ball retention and using the ball in the right areas at the right time.
