The Southern teams promised better this season but ultimately were unable to improve on last year's results.
Any chance the Southern Men had of reaching the semifinals vanished on Thursday when Auckland scored a goal from a stroke in the last moments of their round-robin game, and Capital held North Harbour to a 1-1 draw.
That left Southern stranded in fifth with 10 points from three wins, three losses and a draw.
Capital took fourth spot on 13 points, with North Harbour (14) and Midlands (16) in the second and third place and Auckland (19) unbeaten at the top of the competition table.
Capital upset Auckland 6-5 in a thrilling semifinal and then beat Midlands 2-1 in the final to claim its first title since 2006.
In the bottom-four playoff games, Southern had a 2-0 win against Northland.
Striker Chris Ashton scored after 23 minutes and Kane Russell sealed the victory with a second in the 31st minte.
The win enabled Southern to qualify for the playoff for fifth and sixth but it was thrashed 8-2 by Central - a side it had beaten 3-0 in its opening round-robin match two weeks earlier.
A combination of fatigue and the disappointment of missing out on a place in the top four contributed to a below-par performance.
Its sixth placing equalled last year's effort.
Australian import Adam Clifford scored both Southern's goals, while Isaac Staples scored a hat trick for Central with Rob Creffier and Greg Nicol scoring two apiece.
In the women's tournament, the Southern Storm showed character but ultimately it was not enough to avoid its third consecutive wooden spoon.
The Storm was dispatched 5-0 by Northland on Saturday and trailed Capital 3-0 in the playoff for seventh and eighth yesterday.
The South Islanders rallied through two goals from classy Australian import Kellie White and a goal from Kirsty Cole.
But a strike from Jana Gertis in the 63rd minute sealed a dramatic 4-3 win for Capital and left the Storm at the bottom of the competition table.
In the women's final, last year's beaten semifinalists, North Harbour and Auckland, competed for the honours with North Harbour dominating to win 3-1.
