Image courtesy: Daniel Flis
By Gigi Silk
Hume City is in second position on the Alanic Victorian Premier League ladder, after a convincing win over Altona Magic at Paisley Park on Saturday evening.
Hume took out the match 3-nil at Altona’s home ground after Andy Vlahos, Zoran Petrevski and Fabio Dilizia were each able to find the net, bringing down Altona’s defence and strengthening their position as strong finals contenders.
In the 16th minute, Vlahos caught the rebound off a failed goal attempt that hit the post to slot the ball past Tomislav Tomich, to give Hume City an early lead.
Hume’s next scoring opportunity came only minutes later when Altona Magic’s Sime Kovacevic pushed Petrevski in the back just outside the box. The free was taken by Richie Cardozo but was easily saved by Tomich.
Another devastating blow for Altona came in the 29th minute when Tomich lost concentration and came too far out of his goal to even attempt to save a ball that Petrevski had aimed straight into the net, putting Hume City in front, 2-nil.
Altona were not able to catch a break with Doug Mladenovic landing awkwardly on his leg, and coming off the pitch a few minutes later. He was replaced by Aleksander Koltovski.
Hume’s defence was too strong for Altona with them consistently clearing the ball, and finding their way to the front of the pack.
By half time, Hume was dominating, playing for points to try and push Richmond from top spot.
After a text-book header with perfect execution from Philip Riccobene in the 48th minute, Hume had a commanding three-nil lead over Altona Magic.
However, all was not lost for Altona. They upped their offensive pressure in the second half to try and loosen Hume’s firm grip on the match.
Pece Cergovski found his way past the Hume defenders to have a shot on goal that had Lou Acevski’s natural reflexes kicking-in to stop the ball from hitting his head.
After a yellow card for Petrevski for talking back at the umpire, Kovacevic came close to putting Altona on the scoreboard with a header that only just missed the net.
Hume swapped opening goal-scorer and coach, Andy Vlahos for Alfonso Opazo; and Brendan Beni returned to the side, replacing Tansel Baser.
With only seconds remaining, George Papadopoulos found a run on the left wing, crossed the ball into Mathew Theodore for another near-miss for Altona.
Following this victory, Hume City hasn’t lost a match since Round 15, and they are looking like the team to beat in the finals. On the otherside, Altona Magic is languishing 11th spot on the Alanic Victorian Premier League ladder, staring down the barrel of relegation.
Hume City will face the Bentleigh Greens at home next week, while Altona Magic will take on first-placed Richmond at Kevin Bartlett Reserve.
Altona Magic: Tomislav TOMICH, Doug MLADENOVIC (Aleksander KOLTOVSKI 30’), Dejan RADOJICIC, Pece SIVESKI, Mathew THEODORE, George PAPADOPOULOS, Pece CERGOVSKI, James DUCEVSKI, John THORNLEY, Sime KOVACEVIC, Goran TALEVSKI
Unused subs: Justin NIKOLOVSKI, Jose VASQUEZ, Andrew SFETCOPOULOS
Yellow cards: SIVESKI 45’, KOLTOVSKI 75’
Hume City: Lupce ACEVSKI, Fabio DILIZIA, Serdar PIR, Isiyan ERDOGAN, Richard CARDOZO, Andy VLAHOS (Alfonso OPAZO 66’), Ross THOMPSON (Dusko DELIC 55’), Zoran PETREVSKI, Tansel BASER (Brendan BENI 75’), Michael BOSEVSKI, Phillip RICCOBENE
Unused subs: Turhan SUMBUL, Marijo ROZA
Yellow cards: PETREVSKI 56’
Goals: VLAHOS 16’, PETREVSKI 30’, DILIZIA 49’
Last updated: Sunday August 1, 2010 4:59PM
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