By Brandon Galgano (@BGalgano94)

Hume City has recorded an important victory with a come-from-behind 2-1 win over Port Melbourne at JL Murphy Reserve on Friday night.

An opener from Kamal Ibrahim in the 54^th minute was not enough for the hosts as new signings Theo Markelis and Paul Harvey struck to send Louie Acevski’s men home with the three points.

The match started off slowly with both sides cautious in their approach to the fixture.

Hume had the first real chance of note with the initial shot from Harvey blocked before the rebound fell to Shane Rexhepi but the former Dandenong Thunder defender was brilliantly denied by Michael Stark who tipped the ball over the bar in the 17^th minute.

Port then had its first chance of the contest with James Riccobene lining up a free kick from the edge of the are,a but Hume custodian Chris Oldfield stood strong to parry away to his left.

Hume then very nearly took the lead in the 22^nd minute as Stark misjudged a high ball into the area with the knockdown falling across the face of goal before being cleared to safety off the goal line.

Port drew first blood though just nine minutes after the break through Kamal Ibrahim.

Following some excellent build up play down the right, the ball came across the box and fell to the former Melbourne Heart man who slotted home to give the hosts the lead.

The game's real moment of controversy came in the build up to the equaliser though from Theo Markelis.

With Port pushing forward for a second, Julius Davies had a shot from the edge of the area which was blocked by what Port officials claimed was the arm of a Hume defender with Sharks coach Eric Vassiliadis visibly furious with the referees decision not to award a spot kick.

This anger was further compounded 30 seconds later as Hume broke forward with Ingham who found Harvey inside the area. The new signing then smartly flicked the ball across to the unmarked Markelis who made no mistake with a classy finish into the roof of the net to level the scoring for the visitors.

With both sides desperate to get a hold of the contest the match became scrappy with Oldfield standing up to deny Ibrahim again in the 71^st minute.

It was a moment of pure brilliance from Harvey which wrapped up the points for City though with just over five minutes of normal time to play.

The former Altona Magic front man received the ball on the edge of the area before beating two defenders, cutting inside and finding the corner to make it 2-1.

The goal seemed to knock the wind out of Port who despite having held the majority of possession throughout the contest were unable to find an equalising goal with the visitors running away with what could be a vital three points.

 

Match Details:

Port Melbourne 1 (Ibrahim 54’) Defeated by Hume City 2 (Markelis 63’, Harvey 84’) at JL Murphy Reserve.

Port Melbourne XI: 25 Michael STARK, 3 James RICCOBENE, 5 George KROMMIDAS, 6 Chris GROSSMAN ©, 15 Kris KIOUSISS, 4 Alan MULCAHY (12 Alec GOODWIN 83’), 16 Alan KEARNEY, 20 Julius DAVIES (11 Nick KROUSORATIS 76’), 22 Ryan OPPERMAN, 8 Brent FISHER (9 Trent RIXON 67’), 14 Kamal IBRAHIM

Unused Substitutes: 1 Stjepan GAL, 10 Andrew MILICEVIC

Yellow Cards: Nil

Red Cards: Nil

 

Hume City XI: 1 Chris OLDFIELD, 5 Petar FRANJIC, 13 Shane REXHEPI, 16 Matt HENNESSEY, 3 Shaun TIMMINS, 4 Isyan ERDOGAN, 39 Nick HEGARTY ©, 12 Daniel CLARK (11 Ivan PAVLAK 77’), 7 Jai INGHAM, 9 Paul HARVEY, 8 Theo MARKELIS (17 Marcus SCHROEN 87’)

Unused Substitutes: 20 Tom BANFIELD, 2 Dean TOMESKI, 15 Liam NEWMAN

Yellow Cards: Rexhepi 60’, Erdogan 71’, Hegarty 78’

Red Cards: Nil