By Chris Hearn (@_ChrisHearn)

Melbourne Knights has succumbed to its third-straight home defeat, falling to Hume City courtesy of a second-half Nick Hegarty penalty at Knights Stadium on Wednesday night.

Chances were few and far between in an uninspiring first period as both sides, coming off losses last round, lacked fluidity and confidence going forward.

Shayad Alinejad was lively for the hosts but the movement ahead of him was lacklustre, which was the story for all creative players throughout.

Richie Cardozo went close twice in the second half for Hume, hitting the crossbar from 30 yards via a dead ball situation before crashing the bar again from close range.

Jose Guerrero sparked the match into life on 77 minutes, latching onto a through ball from deep and Knights goalkeeper Chris May clumsily clattering into the speedster.

Hegarty took responsibility from the spot and made no mistake, putting the visitors 1-0 up.

The Knights pushed desperately for an equaliser in the final 15 minutes and in the six minutes of stoppage time.

Knights coach Andrew Marth brought on youngster Chris Stefani who provided width and pace but it was ultimately to no avail as Hume held on to claim all three points.

“I think it was a 50/50 game, no one really deserved to win or lose,” Marth said.

“One critical error [goalkeeper] Chris May might have made was the difference in the end.”

Marth was disappointed with his team’s lack of a cutting edge.

“That’s (not capitalising on chances) been our major problem for the last three games. We should have beaten Werribee and we definitely should have beaten Dandenong last Sunday.”

Hume coach Louie Acevski was pleased with the win after his side squandered two golden chances in the second half:

“When I see Richie Cardozo hit the post from a metre out, again, for the third week in a row, I thought, it can’t keep going on like this,” Acevski said.

Acevski lauded his side’s work ethic.

“Defensively we worked very hard as a unit, and we made sure we came away with a clean sheet.”

Hume City will host Oakleigh Cannons in Round 6, while the Knights will welcome rival South Melbourne.

MATCH DETAILS

Melbourne Knights 0 defeated by Hume City 1 (Hegarty 78’ pen.) at Knights Stadium [HT: 0-0]

Melbourne Knights: 1. Chris MAY, 3. Sam TORRENS (11. Anthony COLOSIMO 45’), 4. Ben SUREY 5. Milan BATUR, 6. Tomislav USKOK, , 8. James McGARRY, 13. Antun KOVACIC, 14. Rodrigo COVARRUBIAS, 17. Daniel VISEVIC (12. Chris STEFANI 83’), 19. Shayan ALINEJAD 18. Anthony DUZEL (12. Damien RASTOCIC 61’).

Unused substitutes: 2. Nikola SRBINOSKI, 25. Michael O’FARRELL.

Yellow cards: Ben Surey 5’, Tomislav Uskok 19’ James McGarry 50’

Red cards: None

Hume City: 1. Chris OLDFIELD (GK), 4. Isyan ERDOGAN, 5. Petar FRANJIC, 6. Joseph FRANJIC, 8. Jose GUERRERO (9. Nick MARINOS 81’), 10. Richie CARDOZO (10. Baki EFE 90+3’), 11. Kliment TASESKI, 13. Shane REXHEPI, 17. Aaron TURNER,  35. Baran KARAGOZ (7. Ali TURGUT 58’), 39. Nick HEGARTY

Unused substitutes: 20. Evan ALLYANDROS, 22. Evan KORKMAZ

Yellow cards: Joe Franjic 2’, Ali Turgut 63’, Nik Marinos 87’

Red cards: None

Pictured: Nick Hegarty celebrates scoring the winning penalty for Hume City (image credit: Steve Starek/Melbourne Knights FC)