Two late goals by Kingston City consigned Hume City to a first round loss in the National Premier League on Monday night.
In one of the final games of the opening round, scores were level after 80 minutes before Kingston scored twice late to seal the 4-2 win.
Hume coach Nick Hegarty said despite the loss there was positive signs for his side. The coach and Atilla Ofli were the two goal scorers for Hume.
“In a first round fixture, a lot of the time it can go both ways,” he said.
“They were on top for the first 20 minutes and we grew into the game. We were in a great position and were on top before they scored their third goal.
“We did a lot a right… We have to get used to being in that position at 80 minutes.”
Hegarty said Ofli and Gideon Sweet were the better players on the night for City.
Hegarty said it had been a good off season, despite a late minute departure.
“The off season has been good,” he said.
“We did lose one of our defenders, with Nick Groenewold going back overseas.
“We had to scramble to replace him. We’ve got two new players [Darby Dexter and Mele Temguia] that we’ve signed late. We’re getting them fit and hopefully get them to settle into the side.
“Hopefully we’ll be full strength in a couple of weeks. Hopefully we can keep doing what we are doing and get some points on the board.”
City’s next match is against Northcote City on Saturday night.
Meanwhile in NPL 2 west, Whittlesea Ranges got their first point of the season with a 1-1 draw against North Geelong Warriors.
The Ranges opened the scoring in the 32nd minute through Christopher Talajic and led at half time.
The Ranges maintained that lead until the dying minutes, with the Warriors scoring the equaliser in the 86th minute.
In the FFA Cup, Lalor United and Craigieburn City are both through to the second round.
United defeated Twin City Wanderers 5-0 with Sash Grozdanoski scoring a hat trick. United faces North Caulfield in the next round.
United joins Craigieburn City, which won through to the next round with a ball being kicked.
City was due to face Uni Hill Eagles on Saturday, but the Eagles forfeited handing City a 3-0 win and passage into the second round, where they will face St Kevins Old Boys.
Bundoora United lost 4-1 to Point Cook, Upfield fell to Sebastopol Vikings 3-2, Greenvale United lost to Ringwood City, while Plenty Valley Lions forfeited their match against Bayside Argonauts.
Hume United which will face East Brighton, Whittlesea united which plays Dandenong Warriors, Mill Park which is drawn to face Heidelberg and Latrobe Uni which will play Mooroolbark, all enter the competition in round two.
