Clinical Sharks too strong for Hume

BY Brandon Galgano (@BGALGANO94)

Port Melbourne has made a flying start to its PlayStation 4 NPL Victoria campaign with a resounding 3-1 victory over Hume City at ABD Stadium on Sunday night.

A double from new signing Trent Rixon was the highlight for the visitors who made the most of their chances, despite being on the back foot for the majority of the second half.

It was the hosts who had the first real chance of the match as a fantastic cross from Marcus Schroen found Issy Erdogan free at the back post but the midfielder put his header over the cross bar from close range.

Port Melbourne then had their best chance to open the scoring as Nick Krousoratis picked the pocket of Shaun Timmins before finding himself clean through on goal, but Chris Oldfield stood his ground to make a strong save.

They didn’t have to wait much longer for the opener as former Melbourne Heart winger Kamal Ibrahim worked some magic to open the scoring.

Picking up the ball just outside the area, Ibrahim beat two men before cutting back onto his right and firing a low curling effort into the bottom corner to give the away side a 1-0 lead in the 32nd minute.

Despite being on the back foot for the majority of the second period, Port Melbourne doubled its lead against the run of play in the 70th minute, as debutant Rixon slotted home with a flicked finish past Oldfield to make it 2-0.

Hume responded almost instantly through a new signing of their own in Jai Ingham.

The former Brisbane Roar winger found the bottom corner with a low free kick in the 74th minute, bringing Hume back into the contest with just over 15 minutes to play.

But the heroic comeback wasn’t to be for Hume City.

With the home side pushing forward and looking for an equaliser, it was Port who struck the final blow as Ibrahim broke free of the back four with a piercing through ball, before cutting back to Rixon who sealed his brace into an empty net.

Rixon’s double sealed the 3-1 win for Port Melbourne, and put them equal second on the ladder with still two games to play in the PlayStation 4 NPL Victoria.

Match Details

Hume City 1 (Ingham 74’) lost to Port Melbourne 3 (Ibrahim 32’, Rixon 70’, 90’) at ABD Stadium.

Hume City FC XI: 1 Chris OLDFIELD, 3 Shaun TIMMINS, 13 Shane REXHEPI, 14 Aaron TURNER (10 Joe FRANJIC 35’), 16 Matty HENNESSY, 4 Isyan ERDOGAN, 17 Marcus SCHROEN (9 Deang ABUEK 67’), 39 Nick HEGARTY ©, 19 Sam BENINATO (24 Adrian BOGUIS 73’), 7 Jai INGHAM, 8 Calvin MBARGA

Unused Substitutes: 20 Tom BANFIELD

Port Melbourne FC XI: 1 Stephan GAL, 2 Andrew VIOLA (20 Julius DAVIES 57’), 19 Shaun KELLY ©, 23 Connor REDDAN, 3 James RICCOBENE, 16 Alan KEARNEY, 5 Nick TZOULIS (7 Lisandro PAZ 77’), 11 Nick KROUSORATIS (17 Erhan YALAZ 83’), 10 Andrew MILICEVIC, 14 Kamal IBRAHIM, 9 Trent RIXON

Unused Substitutes: 25 Michael STARK, 21 Josh NAPOLITANO




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