Tara Murray
Hume City is through to the national stage of the Australia Cup.
One of the most successful Victorian teams in the competition, Hume won through to the final 32 with victory against Caroline Springs George Cross.
Hume was quickly out of the blocks with Tommy Maricic opening the scoring for Hume in the 16th minute despite Georgies pleas for a hand ball.
Josh Bingham doubled the lead in the 42nd minute to take a 2-0 lead into half time.
Hume continued on its way in the second half.
Michel Platt scored in the 61st minute and then scored a second one in the second minute of injury time to put the icing on the cake.
Hume got the win 4-0.
Coach David Chick said they were thrilled to be back in the national stage of the competition.
“That was that was always the aim obviously from the start, like the cup is huge and there’s a directive from the start to make sure we always try and do our best in it.
“I know some find it difficult to play double competitions, but we always
want to do well based on the history of the club having done well previously, it makes sense to us.
“It’s a nice achievement.”
Chick said the Georgies came and caused some problems and were pretty competitive early on.
He said they tried to make it really awkward for them.
Hume joins Heidelberg United, South Melbourne and Melbourne Srbija through to the next round.
Oakleigh Cannons will face Avondale for the final Victorian spot in the 32 team national stage.
It’s the first time Hume has qualified for the round of 32 since 2021, where it was knocked out by Melbourne City in the round of 16.
Chick, who returned to the club this season, has great memories of Hume’s involvement in the national stage.
Hume has qualified for this stage six times now with its best finish the semi finals in 2015.
“It’s something that people remember, like three years, four years seems like a long time if you’re a fan of a club your whole life a few years doesn’t feel that long.
“That’s [2015] is the pinnacle of it and when you’ve had an experience like that you long for it again.
“They were good night and I would love to do this again.”
Chick said the draw was set to be this week.
As a coach he said he would love a home match, but said any match of this stage of the competition was exciting.
