By Bill Molloy (@Bill_Molloy94)

Oakleigh Cannons has suffered its first defeat on home soil this season after Hume City recorded a 2-1 win at Jack Edwards Reserve.

Goals from Cristopher Cristaldo and Anthony Proia proved to be the difference on the night, while the drama continued after the game as Oakleigh goalkeeper, John Honos, confronted the Hume bench in a heated encounter.

Hume made its intentions known from the first minute as the players began the game on the front foot, pressing to create chances early.

Large parts of the first half boiled down to a battle in the midfield as neither side could break away to dominate play and craft the majority of chances.

As a result, it was little surprise when both sides went into the break still deadlocked.

It was Cristaldo who broke the deadlock in the second half as a misguided cross caught Honos offguard, as it curled towards the back post and just out of reach of the Oakleigh goalkeeper’s fingers.

Proia then pounced on a defensive mix-up, stealing the ball from Honos’ feet as the goalkeeper received a backpass before tucking it away for what proved to be a decisive goal.

But Bosnjak was on the end of Nate Foster’s low cross a minute after to provide a nervous few last minutes for the visitors as he halved the deficit, burying the ball past Chris Oldfield.

Hume held on for the win despite a dramatic end to the game.

Tension boiled over after the final whistle however, as Oakleigh goalkeeper John Honos signalled to the Hume bench before having to be separated by teammates as he argued with the Hume players and coaching staff.

Oakleigh Cannons coach Miron Bleiberg was displeased with his sides performance, stating that it was not the players’ best effort.

“They played to 100 per cent of their ability and we played to 40 per cent of our ability...for the effort and the fact that we played so bad, they deserved to win,” Bleiberg said.

The loss has put a big dent in Oakleigh’s title run, and Bleiberg is now relying on another slip up from South Melbourne if they are to win the title.

“Hopefully South Melbourne also have a few bad days in the office...like we have a bad day, they are also human beings and that’s football,” he said.

Hume City coach, Louie Acevski was thrilled with his team’s performance, particularly given the difficult conditions.

“We were the better team tonight...phenomenal performance by the boys. Very hard to play, the ground was disgusting, I can’t emphasise that enough,” Acevski said.

Speaking on the post-match drama, Acevski hopes that action is taken in regards to ill-discipline.

“Right in front of my eyes their goalkeeper...he punched our assistant coach. You don’t see that anywhere in the world," he said.

“In other parts of the world players like that get split for life so he should get everything he deserves.”

MATCH DETAILS
Oakleigh Cannons 1 (Bosnjak 89’) defeated by Hume City 2 (Cristaldo 68’, Proia 88’) at Jack Edwards Reserve. [HT: 0-0]

Oakleigh Cannons: 1. John Honos, 7. Bonel Obradovic, 5. Aron Wilford, 18. Adam Le Cornu, 12. Tremayne Sadler, 3. John Black 16. Ariel Ritz (14. Nate Foster 53’) 21. Andreas Govas (10. Veton Korcari 71’), 8. Dusan Bosnjak, 19. Goran Zoric (4. Ian Kamau 62’), 17. Dean Piemonte

Unused subs: 35. Harry Raworth, 22. George Krommidas

Yellow cards: 21. Andreas Govas (14’), 3. John Black (73’)

Red cards: None

Hume City: 1. Chris Oldfield, 22. Niko Jackson, 18. John Stojcevski, 4. Isyan Erdogan, 16. Ilhan Altuntas, 8. Abel Fesseha (28. Adrian Boglis 74’), 5. John Sapazovski 23. Christopher Cristaldo, 9. Anthony Proia (14. Allam Bosha 90’), 6. Joe Franjic, 17. Aaron Turner

Unused subs: 7. Kristian Trajcevski, 20. Evan Alexandrow

Yellow cards: Joe Franjic (26’)

Red Cards: None

Image credit: Jason Heidrich