Rexhepi haunts old side in Hume win

By Matthew McNamara

Hume City has recorded a 1-0 victory over a determined Dandenong Thunder outfit at Broadmeadows Valley Park on Sunday afternoon.

It was ex-Dandenong hero Shane Rexhepi who sealed the win for the home side, with his header in the 20th minute enough to separate the two sides.

Wet and windy conditions greeted both teams, but both seemed determined to to play football on a wonderful but slippery surface.

Hume began the game with the ascendancy with 35-year-old striker Johnny Sapazovski going nearest in just the third minute when his glancing header clipped the post and went just wide of Frazer Siddall’s goal.

Dandenong looked to its captain Alan Mulcahy for inspiration and just before the halftime break he almost pulled his side level when his free-kick was well saved by Hume custodian Chris Oldfield.

Dandenong made a tactical change at the halftime interval with coach Dean Hennessey replacing Feston Azizi with young gun Matthew Millar, who was relied upon to drive his side towards an equaliser for not just the first time this season.

But it was Hume which threatened in the opening moments of the second period when Richie Cardozo let rip from 35 yards, only to see his strike clip the top of the crossbar and sail out.

The visitors made a tactical move with 30 minutes remaining when Brendan Craig was introduced to partner Carl Lamb as Thunder changed from a 4-3-3 to a 4-4-2 formation in an effort to capitalise on its heart and presence in the final third.

The change almost paid immediate dividends when moments later Thunder had the ball in the back of the net, but the goal was disallowed for an infringement on a Hume City defender.

Dandenong was hitting its straps and continued to push forward in search of an equaliser, and its hopes were improved when Hume’s Joseph Franjic was sent off for a second bookable offence.

As the game entered injury time, Hume had keeper’ Oldfield to thank as his point-blank save from a Lamb effort kept the scoreline at 1-0.

Hume could have snatched a sealer in the 94th minute when Sapazovski was one-on-one with Siddall, but the former Westvale marksman could only see his effort tamely wide.

With only seconds remaining, Dandenong again continued its push forward but again it was Oldfield denying Lamb, as the home side hung on to record an important 1-0 victory.

Hume City coach Louie Acevski was delighted with his team’s character.

“Going down to 10 men, against a side like Dandenong it was always going to be a tense final 30 minutes.  Every player needed to lift and share the workload and that’s exactly what happened,” Acevski said.

Dandenong Thunder coach Dean Hennessey said his side’s poor first half was to blame for the loss.

“I was really disappointed in that first half. We were just second to everything,” Hennessey said.

“Credit to Hume, they came out and played and it was really unlike us, but we just didn’t match their endeavour.

“They were the better side in the first half but I felt that we were definitely the better side in the second half.”

Next week Hume City travels to face the top-of-the-table South Melbourne, while Dandenong plays host to an in-form Melbourne Knights.

Match Details

Hume City 1 (Rexhepi 20;’) defeated Dandenong Thunder 0 at Broadmeadows Valley Park [HT: 1-0]

Hume City: Chris Oldfield (GK), Jeremy Walker, Matthew Hennessey (Baki Efe 87’), Shane Rexhepi, Johnny Stojcevski, Joseph Franjic, Isyan Erdogan (Aaron Turner 69’), Richie Cardozo, Christopher Cristaldo (Anthony Proia 61’), Abel Fesseha, Johnny Sapazovski

Unused subs: Nikos Jackson, Evan Alexandrow-Ridley (GK)

Yellow cards: Rexhepi 7’, Cardozo 23’, Franjic 32’ 83’, Erdogan 46’

Red card: Franjic 83’

Dandenong Thunder: Frazer Siddall (GK), Jarryd Barnes (Brendan Craig 61’), Brendan Elmazovski, Ramazan Tavsancioglu, Sakhi Zada Faisal, Alan Kearney, Alan Mulcahy, Feston Azizi (Matthew Millar 46’), Kieran Dover, Carl Lamb, Kris Koussis.

Unused subs: Zaim Zeneli (GK), Rees Duncan, Ilir Pali

Yellow card: Barnes 53’

Red card: Nil




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