Norths coach Dave Willott took encouragement from a 5-2 win over traditional rivals Souths which lifted them to third place after round nine of the men's Hunter Coast Premier Hockey League.
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The Blues went to 10 points, one ahead of Maitland, who lost to leaders Gosford (17 points) 5-2 at home on Sunday.
Wests beat last-placed Tigers 5-1 with a double from Sam Mudford in Sunday's other match at Newcastle International Hockey Centre. It took the second-placed Rosellas to 11 points.
Norths, the defending major and minor premiers, have made a mixed start to their 2024 campaign but found their range in the second half against the Lions (seven points) on Sunday.
Ryan Woolnough put Norths in front in the 17th minute and Josh Robson equalised in the 19th. Ed Hunt restored the lead for Norths in the 36th and a penalty stroke from Sam Liles in the 49th stretched it to 3-1. Orlando Travis made it 4-1 in the 60th but Ben Hanlan pulled one back for Souths moments later. Ben Martin closed it out for Norths late.
"We played pretty well and dominated a lot of the second half," Willott said.
"We put a few chances away, which helped, but we had a lot of other chances. Their goalie played pretty well and made some good saves, but it was pretty good.
"We built pretty well into the game and played a fair bit better than we have in previous weeks. It was encouraging.
"Quentin Pursey at the back was really good and was probably our best player today. Ryan Woolnough was good as well, coming through the midfield with Kurt Walters."
Maitland led Gosford 2-0 in the first quarter but four goals off short corners helped the visitors power back. Brinley Gallagher got a hat-trick for Gosford.
The Newcastle premier league women's round on Saturday was abandoned because of the torrential rain.
AAP reports: The Kookaburras and the Hockeyroos have turned their fortunes around in the Belgian leg of the FIH Pro League with twin wins over Argentina.
The Kookaburras came from behind to beat Argentina 4-3, while a 47th-minute strike from Penny Squibb got the Hockeyroos home 1-0.
The win for the Australian men came less than 48 hours after a 2-1 loss to the South Americans. Tom Wickham got Australia off to a flying start in the third minute. But Argentina scored three of the next four goals to lead 3-2 midway through the second half.
Aran Zalewski set up striker Jeremy Hayward with an incredible ball which he slotted to equalise in the 57th minute. With the clock running down, Craig passed to Blake Govers, whose strike handed the Kookaburras their first win of the stage.
"There's no better guy to have on the end of it," said Craig of Govers, who has scored 144 goals in 157 internationals and is returning to international competition following an injury layoff after his last game at the FIH Pro League in February.
"It's an Olympic year so teams just get sharper and sharper the closer it gets to the Olympics," added Craig.
"I think starting probably with a couple of losses this leg definitely sent a bit of a rocket up us.
"We had a really good debrief of the first two games, came together really well on our rest day, and just wanted to put out a good 60 minutes and played right to the end, which was very pleasing."
Earlier in the day in Antwerp, the Hockeyroos claimed a clutch 1-0 over Argentina, having also started the series with back-to-back losses.
It was a much-improved performance across the field as both Australia and Argentina battled to break the deadlock right up until the fourth quarter.
Player of the match Karri Somerville starred in defence for Australia.
Squibb's match-winner came after the Hockeyroos earned a penalty corner a couple of minutes after the third break,
Both Australian teams will be back in action on Sunday night (early Monday AEST) against Belgium.
