Michaela Meade
Hume City has been knocked out of the FFA Cup after a “valiant loss” against A-League side Melbourne City on Wednesday night.
Hume faced Melbourne in the round of 16 match of the competition, losing 1-0.
Coach Nick Hegarty said the team had put in a solid performance.
He said a strong spectator turnout, good atmosphere and effective training led to a sound performance from the National Premier League side.
“I think the general consensus is that the club [is] proud of what we achieved and how we performed on the night,” Hegarty said.
“We’re pretty happy at the same as we’re obviously disappointed.”
Hegarty said the positive attitude the team approached the loss with was a credit to them.
“We took the game to them [Melbourne],” he said.
“It’s inevitable in football, no matter what level you’re playing in, games will be lost.
“Our performance last night was the way that you lose games.
“You go until the end, you never drop your head, you continue pushing forward and try to create chances.”
Hegarty said the ability of Melbourne to complete consistent, full-time training gave them a leg up in the game.
He said Hume had tried to replicate the elite club schedule to get into form.
“That’s been the task over the last three weeks – figuring out ways to get to their level, so we could compete,” Hegarty said.
“Practically and technically, our players are as good in a lot of positions and situations, it’s just the ability to do it at high speeds and on the regular occasions that they need to happen.
“For us to come through the game and show that we are at those levels based on what we’ve done is a nice thing for both the players and the staff.
“Hopefully it gives the lads that bit of hunger to go a bit further, and take those types of preparations and performance into our NPL fixture.”
Hume is set to go head-to-head with Avondale on Sunday, December 5, in the Dockerty Cup final.
