By Shaun Moran @moranshaun


Hume City shot out of the blocks to take down a well-beaten Werribee City 3-0 at Broadmeadows Valley Park on Sunday afternoon.

It was the home side which struck the opener early on to send it on its way.

The sprightly Jeremy Walker drew his man and permitted Abel Fesseha to find an inch of space on the edge of the 18-yard-box.

The latter sold his defender the wrong way and jinked inboard before letting fly with a curling left foot shot that slammed into the back of the net.

Fesseha then swapped sides and continued to wreak havoc on the Werribee defence.

The winger cut in on his right side this time and demonstrated that he is more than able with both feet as he stroked the ball home just prior to the interval.

Hume continued where it left off after the restart as Anthony Proia blasted a drive which proved too tricky for Werribee’s shot-stopper Roderick Yousef to handle.

The spill was taken care of by Richie Cardozo who virtually walked the ball into the goal to secure all three points.
Lou Acevski’s side was buoyed by scoring early and looked to take the game by the scruff of the neck by dictating the play and possession.

Liam Brian and former Hume attacker Jose Guerrero both tried their luck from range against the run of play in an attempt to get their team Werribee back in the game.

But Shane Rexhepi then bustled forward from his centre-back position and lashed an ambitious attempt at the other end in conditions that did not promote a free-flowing passing on the deck.

Cardozo’s perfectly placed ball set Christopher Cristaldo though on goal moments before half time, but the Melbourne Victory forward scuffed his shot wide of the right upright to the dismay of the home faithful.

The hosts were comfortable for the large part of the second half but for one occasion when Werribee got in behind its opponent’s defence.

Simon Zappia galloped into the area and tried to lob Chris Oldfield who was bright enough to throw out a glove to thwart the substitute.

However the rebound was cleared off the line to sum up the visitors’ day.

Its coach Nino Ragusa bewailed his team’s lack of personnel up front.

“We still have a lot of work to do,” he explained.

“We currently don’t have a striker. We’ve played without one for three weeks.

“Dom Marafioti’s not a striker. But we’ve got one in.”

Hume boss Lou Acevski was encouraged with how his side bounced back following its heavy loss against Pascoe Vale last week.

“They didn’t really threaten us and I thought it was pretty comfortable,” he said.

“Probably the only negative was not scoring more goals.

“Abel played his first game today – you can’t ask for more than that. It’s a great start for the kid.”

Hume’s will play its next match at the same time and place next week against Dandenong Thunder, while Werribee returns home to face Melbourne Knights.

MATCH DETAILS



Hume City 3 (Fesseha 7’, 42’, Cardozo 55’), defeated Werribee 0 at Broadmeadows Valley Park [HT: 2-0]



Hume City: 1. Chris OLDFIELD, 24. Jeremy WALKER, 18. Johnny STOJCEVSKI, 4. Isyan ERDOGAN (17. Aaron TURNER 58’), 13. Shane REXHEPI, 8. Abel FESSEHA, 9. Anthony PROIA (44. John SAPAZOVSKI 68’), 10. Richie CARDOZO (22. Kaan KORKMAZ 81’), 23. Christopher CRISTALDO, 6. Joe FRANJIC, 28. Matthew HENNESSY.


Unused subs: 14. Baki EFE, 20. Evan ALEXANDROV.

Yellow Cards: Stojcevski (43’), Rexhepi (68’), Cristaldo (70’)

Red Cards: Nil

Werribee City: 1. Roderick YOUSEF, 2. Ersin KAYA, 43. Steven CUDRIG, 14. Bobby VIDONOSKI, 9. Devon BONNE, 26. Liam BRIAN (10. Damir MARUSIC 78’), 13. Milan SAVIC (3. Matko BUDIMIR 65’), 17. Matthew CUNDARI, 18. Jose GUERRERO, 11. Domenico MARAFIOTI (7. Simon ZAPPIA 45’), 20. Daniel PETROV.

Unused subs: 19. Robbie NAUMOVSKI, 12. Tommy DUNN

Yellow Cards: Cundari (25’)

Red cards: Nil

Pictured: Hume City's Abel Fesseha (Image credit: Hume City FC)