Hume City was unable to keep its title as Dockerty Cup champions, losing 1-0 to Avondale in the competition final on Sunday.
The reigning champions were unsuccessful in what was a “typical” final match, according to coach Nick Hegarty.
He said Hume suffered from fatigue, having come up against Melbourne City in an FFA Cup round of 16 match just five days earlier.
“We just ran out of legs,” he said.
“As the game went on, the physical and mental fatigue left us a bit short.
“It was a contest, not one really for the football purists.”
Hegarty said it was not a standout game for either side.
He said the ground conditions and weather negatively impacted the teams, with the match ending up being a “game of percentages”.
“It’s often a mistake or a bit of quality from somebody that decides games like that.”
Hume suffered a blow when captain Hayden Tennant was red-carded in the 72nd minute, to be a player down. Avondale were also a man down six minutes later when Liam Boland was red-carded.
Avondale’s Stefan Valentini scored a penalty in the 84th minute, which decided the match.
Hegarty said it was “just one of those things”.
“That’s life, that’s football,” Hegarty said.
“There’s only one winner in a final, so we just get up and we go again.”
Hegarty said newly minted players Lucas Trenkovski and Birhan Elibol – who both made their senior debuts last month – did very well.
“Both Lucas and Birhan had great games again,” he said.
“[They] really put themselves in contention to be starting the first game of next season, that’s for sure.”
Hegarty said he was proud of how the side had competed overall in their 2021 competitions.
As well as making the Dockerty Cup final, Hume made the final 16 of the FFA Cup and was sitting fourth on the ladder when the National Premier League season was called off.
Hegarty said that for a group of young players, with not much experience, 2021 had been a good year.
“To go through three or four COVID breaks, [and] to keep themselves in the condition to be able to come back and push themselves [is great],” he said.
“[To get] very close to getting a result against Melbourne City and then back it up five days later, playing against a team [that is] completely fresh, completely fit, who’d been preparing for us for three weeks, whereas we’ve prepared for them [with] no sessions at all based on the time period that we had, has been incredible.
“It’s all credit to them and all credit to my staff in the club that have allowed them to produce those performances.”
Hegarty said the players would have “plenty of time” to get back to full strength after a break over summer.
He said the side would look to make a challenge for a top position in the 2022 NPL competition.
