Nearly three years of tears and frustration have ended for Southland, as their long Mitre 10 Cup losing streak ended with a 42-14 victory over Counties Manukau in Invercargill.
The Stags, bottom of the championship table, had not tasted success since October 2016 - 27 straight losses - but were not to be denied against their South Auckland rivals, who trail the premiership.
The home side took the early lead with a penalty from Marty McKenzie and extended that advantage with a try to winger Rory van Vugt, after a period of sustained pressure on the Steelers line.
Counties were reduced to 14 players, but responded with an intercept try, when wing Nikolai Foliaki latched onto a long pass from second-five Raymond Nu'u and sprinted the length of the field.
Stags halfback Logan Crowley restored the margin with a try and another McKenzie penalty had them ahead 18-7 at halftime.
Soon after the restart, the Southland forwards mauled from an attacking lineout, with hooker Greg Pleasants-Tate earning the try.
Further tries to wings Isaac Te Tamaki and Lewis Ormond stretched the margin to 39-7, before the visitors staged a late, but ineffective comeback.
"I couldn't be happier," beamed Southland captain Brayden Mitchell afterwards. "We had our back against the wall and heaps of injuries... I'm just so happy for the boys."
Seven days earlier, the Stags had let a 26-7 lead slip against Manawatu, but were determined not to repeat that lapse.
"We tried to learn from last week," said Mitchell. "[At halftime] we knew Counties would go up a gear and we had to lift another two."
Southland visit Taranaki on Thursday, hoping to build a new kind of streak, while relegation candidates Counties Manukau host a hurting Canterbury side on Saturday.
Southland 42 (Lewis Ormond, Isaac Te Tamaki, Rory Van Vugt, Logan Crowley and Greg Pleasants-Tate tries; Marty McKenzie three penalties & four conversions) Counties Manukau 14 (Nikolai Foliaki & Malgene Ilaua tries; Riley Hohepa two conversions)
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