A dominant second half by Hume City against Moreland City sealed the National Premier League side’s spot in the national stage of the FFA Cup for the third straight year.
Having made it through to at the least the round of 16 the last two years, Hume City was keen to have another shot on the big stage.
It took until the 40th minute for the deadlock to be broken, with a sensational James McGarry cross finding Liam Boland, setting him up for a shot he would make every day.
Hume technical director Dean Hennessey said it had been a nervous start for the side, before they settled after the break.
“From our point of view it was a tough game,” he said.
“They started better than us, but once we hit the front we settled down.
“We dominated the second half. All of our FFA Cup games we’ve dominated on the scoreboard.”
Hume finished with a 4-0 win.
Skipper Nick Hegarty, Nicholas Panetta and McGarry all scored second half goals, with Panetta’s goal his first in Hume colours.
Hennessey said playing in the FFA Cup national stage again was a fabulous achievement. The last two years Hume has been knocked out of the competition by Melbourne Victory.
The win also means Hume is through to the semi finals of the Dockerty Cup.
The win comes just 24 hours after City announced changes to its coaching structure.
Hennessey will step back from technical manger to technical director, which will see him have a lesser role on game day.
Ufuk Kubilayhan has been appointed to the senior coaching role. David Chick who was already part of the coaching set up, stays on at the club as senior assistant coach.
Hennessey said the changes had been in the works for a number of weeks. He said he’s known Kubilayhan for a number of years.
“In the manager role I’ve been really stretched managing all the coaches, running the first team and running the junior program,” he said.
“Each club in the NPL has a technical director and most of them have not a lot to do with the first team.
“Because of my background I’ve been a person to help out and bounce things off.
“I’ll concentrate on the technical director role now. We’ve got plenty of talented juniors split across the west and east divisions.
“They are at least second or third in every age group.”
