By Tara Murray
Hume City kicked off the National Premier League season in winning style with a solid win over Altona Magic on Saturday night.
It was an interesting night for both sides, with three players receiving red cards, in a match that was controlled by Hume.
Stevie Hewitt was on the end of some good work in both halves, to score the only two goals in Hume’s 2-0 win.
Hume coach Nick Hegarty said it was good to get a win.
“It turned into a tough game,” he said.
“It was a different game with a few red cards. It’s not always easy to play against a side which is a man down.
“We fully deserved the points after controlling it from start to finish.”
Hume had plenty of opportunities in the first half, with Hewitt converting in the 26th minute.
Hegarty said getting a score on the board in the first half was important and they could have had a couple of goals on the board.
Just before half time, Magic’s Maarten Hemmen was sent from the field after receiving a red card, leaving Magic down a player.
Hegarty said they didn’t handle well being a player up early in the second half.
“We tried to get a second goal too much for my liking,” he said.
“They want to win, they want to win by more than one goal.”
Magic was soon down to nine men when Nicholas Sette received a red card in the 75th minute.
PHOTO GALLERY: Hume City vs Altona Magic
Hume then lost a man, when Danny Dixon received a red card in the 84th minute after getting two yellow cards.
Hegarty said the dying minutes with both sides down men was a good learning curve.
Hewitt made the most of an opportunity late to score the sealer in the 87th minute.
Hegarty said Hewitt was the one that was lucky enough to get on the end of a couple of opportunities.
He said if they were to do that every week, others would step up at different times.
The win caps off a strong pre-season for Hume.
Hume has added only two players to the squad from last season, as they kept their core group together.
Hegarty said that would help them down the track.
“We’ve got everyone in for the start of the season and we’re fit and ready to go.
“We’ve now got 25 games and we need to perform week in and week out.
“Early wins are important. If you’re in bad situations or being a goal down and not having been together for a long time, you don’t have that trust.
“It’s a good base for us and we’ve got lots of good players. Hopefully there will be good things this season.”
