By Matthew McNamara

A Wade Dekker strike 15 minutes from time was enough for Northcote City to see off Hume City at Broadmeadows Valley Park on Sunday afternoon.

The match was not for the football purist though, as both sides seemed to have entered holiday mode in what was a rather non-eventful match.

Dekker’s 77th-minute strike was enough to separate the two teams as he found space in the area before slotting home past Chris Oldfield in the Hume goal.

In a game of very limited opportunities, the visitors seemed defiant and were unfortunate to be denied early on, if not for the heroics of Oldfield.

The big Englishman was on hand early to deny Northcote twice as he continued his stellar form.

Liam Wooding could have given Northcote the lead on the half-hour mark as Hume was caught in transition, but the Adelaide youngster drove his strike well wide of the mark.

Hume City had a glorious chance to equalise with only eight minutes remaining when captain Nick Hegarty found himself free in the box, but his strike uncharacteristically sailed high over the bar.

In the dying moments of the game, Hume City moved central defender Shane Rexhepi up front and the former Dandenong Thunder captain almost scored a cracking header after a great cross from the left-hand side for the home side.

Rexhepi was proving to be a handful for the Northcote defence and once again found himself free in the area before again heading just wide.

Hume City coach Lou Acevski was disappointed with his side’s finish to the season.

"Look, today might have been a dead rubber to some people but a win or even a draw today would have kept us in sixth spot,” Acevski said.

“But we decided not to turn up and that's disappointing.”

When asked to reflect on Hume’s season, Acevski was pleased given the challenges.

"To overcome the obstacles we have had, to finish where we have (sixth) is an achievement in itself,” Acevski said.

“Players going overseas on trials, players going to the World Cup, long-term knee injuries, suspensions - we have had it all.

“To finish in the top six is a fantastic effort by this group of players."

Northcote City was unavailable for comment.

MATCH DETAILS

Hume City: Chris Oldfield (GK), Niko Jackson, Aaron Turner, Matthew Hennessey, Shane Rexhepi, Ilhan Altuntas (Jamie De Smit 71'), Joe Franjic, Chris Cristaldo (John Sapazovski 60'), John Buceto, Kliment Taseski (Adrian Boglis 82'), Nick Hegarty (C)

Unused subs: Dennis Martin, Perry Lambropoulos

Cards: Nil

Northcote City: Chris Theodoridis (GK), Adrian Chiappetta (C), Philip Petreski, Aaron Ward (Ricardo Gonzalez 65'), Jonathon Munoz, Marino Gasparis (Anthony Rizk 77'), Liam Wooding, Wade Dekker, James Kalifatidis (Trent Rixon 65'), Jonathan Bounas, Jacob Eliopoulos

Unused subs: Luke Gavalas, Greg Lombardo

Cards: Nil