Tara Murray
Hume City got a vital win in the jostle for top six spots in the National Premier League.
While there’s a gap between the top six and the chasing pack, there isn’t much between most of the sides in the top six.
It was a battle between fifth and sixth on Saturday, when Hume took on Port Melbourne.
Hume put out a strong performance to come away with a 3-0 win.
Coach David Chick said it was a pretty important win for his side.
“It was a good win, the guys did really well,” he said. “They are close to us in the league and they would have jumped us if they had beaten us.
“Now we have a bit more of a gap on them.”
Chick said the game played out how they thought it would. He said the Sharks are a different side to play against.
“They play a different style to other teams we play against,” he said. “We executed the game plan really well.”
Lloyd Isgrove, Joshua Gulevski and Aamir Abdallah were the goal scorers for Hume.
The win keeps Hume in fifth spot, but it now sits five points clear of Port Melbourne.
It is now only goal difference behind fourth placed Heidelberg United after it lost to Green Gully, 2-0.
Chick said it’s an important period for the side.
“It is tough as we have a lot of games coming up,” he said. “We’re starting to feel the effects of a long season so it’s important to get points on the board early so we can cruise into finals
“You want to finish as high as we can. There’s a little bit of a gap at the top.
“We want to get as many points as possible and hopefully get a home final, it’ll be a big asset if we can get one.”
For Hume, its attention turns to the seventh round of the Victorian stage of the Australia Cup.
Hume plays Victorian Premier League 1 side Caroline Springs George Cross on Wednesday night for a spot in the national stage of the competition.
“It’s a big night for the club and getting through puts us on the national stage and it’s one of our goals,” Chick said.
“We want to progress through in the cup and do well in the league as well. When I was at Bentleigh I played them [Caroline Springs] in a practice match and I worked with their coach Eric ?? years ago.
“We’ve done our due diligence towards them as we would any other club.”
It’ll be a big week with Hume then facing Avondale in the NPL on Saturday afternoon.
Off field, it’s been a big couple of weeks for Hume with a new president revealed.
After 18 years, Steve Kaya has stood down from the role.
Former Hume star Ersan Gulum has taken over as president bringing in a fresh energy and new vision for the club.
Chick said it was exciting for the club and said there’s a lot of progress to be made under Gulum.
