Souths go down to Hume at home

In what has been dubbed as the match of the round, Hume City have snatched a 1-0 win away to South Melbourne at Bob Jane Stadium.

Hume came to Bob Jane in fine form, knowing that a win against the Blues would see them climb into second position in the table. South also knew that a win would open up a handy 6 point buffer from the chasing pack.

The visitors started the game like a team on a mission and attacked South from the outset, with Tony Sterjovski finding some space just outside the area, before hitting a long range effort into the prying arms of goalkeeper Tommi Tomich.

Tomich once again was in the way of Hume moments later, with the big custodian superbly thwarting the Serkan Ozkuz on two occasions following a world class double save to his left.

South responded moments later when a sublime long range attempt by Goran Zoric was well caught by the experienced Lou Acevski in Hume’s goal.

Just before the break, South had a golden chance to open the scoring when a long ball by Tomich bamboozled the stagnant Hume City defence, allowing for the ball to fall into the path of Goran Zoric with only the keeper to beat.

With the diminutive striker open in the area, he unbelievably hit the volley from five metres out well wide of the target.

The second half started in a similar way to the first with both clubs throwing themselves into every challenge knowing the importance of the contest.

Hume had the first golden chance of the half in the 63rd minute, when a sublime first touch by Zoran Petrevski allowed for the former Preston premiership player to hit an audacious volley from long range onto the target.

Similar to all previous Hume attempts, the chance was thwarted by the impressive Tomich, who was having a sensational day between the sticks.

With Hume seeming the more likely of the two sides, they continued to push forward and were subsequently rewarded in the 74th minute.

In this instance Hume City’s attacking player Alfonso Opazo appeared to make the most of a soft challenge by Steven O’Dor, after receiving a long ball by Sterjovski just inside the area. Despite that, the referee pointed to the spot to award Hume City with the penalty.

From the resultant spot kick, Petrevski made no mistake, giving the away side a 0-1 advantage with 15 minutes to play.

For that remaining time, South bombarded the Hume City penalty area at every opportunity, with attempts by Vaughan Coveny and Francesco Stella flying wide of the target.

However it was in the 91st minute of play that South had the best chance of the game, when a ball from the left hand side by Sam Torrens fell into the path of the unmarked Gianni De Nittis just inside the area. With the goalkeeper stranded, De Nittis launched a shot inches wide of the target.

With the vital 3 points, Hume jump into 2nd position on table on goal difference ahead of South Melbourne, who drop into 3rd spot.

South must now re-group as it faces a tough derby match against rivals Oakleigh next Friday night at Jack Edwards Reserve, whilst Hume will host Green Gully next Sunday afternoon at Broadmeadows Valley Reserve.

Courtesy of Goal Weekly