The Stags produced a gutsy defensive effort as they desperately look for a way to snap a two-year losing streak.
But it was Northland who emerged victorious in Invercargill last night.
The Taniwha barrelled over late to help seal a 27-17 win. The Stags have now lost 22 consecutive Mitre 10 Cup games, but there were some good signs.
Southland coach Dave Hewett could not be reached for comment. But his side defended tenaciously and also grabbed a couple of long-range tries against the run of play.
But Northland had too much ball to be denied and ran in three second-half tries.
Winger Jordan Hyland got himself involved an awful lot and made some tremendous carries as Northland probed the defence early.
Fullback Scott Gregory found himself in some space but got pulled down in a wonderful tackle by Isaac Te Tamaki.
Somehow Southland continued to absorb the pressure. The Stags were making four tackles for every one of Northland's. Their scrum was back peddling and the visitor was dominating territory and possession.
But guess what happened next? Southland got off the ropes with a 90m try to Te Tamaki. It was quite something.
Marty McKenzie got a fortunate intercept. He may have called for the ball, who knows?
But he flicked it wide and Southland chipped ahead. Te Tamaki gathered and offloaded to a team-mate and then got back in support to score.
Then, late in the half, Southland openside Phil Halder barged over in the corner to give his side a 10-3 lead.
Northland managed to cut the gap with a second penalty to Jack Debreczeni.
Northland went right back to work after the break. The visitor plugged away for another 10 minutes before prop Corey Te Whata-Colley burrowed across from a lineout drive.
It took 50 minutes to breach the defence. The second breach took another four minutes.
Hyland ran a good line and broke through from close range.
But Southland responded with another superb counterattack. Ray Nu'u bumped off a defender and burst into a hole. He passed inside to fullback Josh Moorby, whose angled run carried him to the line.
Southland had closed the gap to three, but hope faded when Temo Mayanavanua scored with eight minutes remaining.