Summary: On Saturday evening, the round 22 fixture between Hume City and South Melbourne ended in a 3-1 victory to the home side. Both teams were able to create compelling chances through aggressive play styles, but South’s poor scoring difficulties prevented a fair competition.
This was not a match I was ecstatic to watch. Our goal-scoring instability has really starting to worry me, though we’re very fortunate that a good run of form mid season will prevent this issue from causing serious consequences. In terms of this current match, however, our issue was we still hadn’t figured out what attacking plays we wanted to set up. Having Billy Konstantinidis on the bench suggested we weren’t particularly interested in crossing the ball into a large striker to convert, but our alternatives in Skapetis and Marafioti opt to play down the wing and away from goals. Nikola Roganovic made his was back into the starting lineup, as Josh Dorron is reportedly injured, though he was present at the pre-match warm up. Either way, neither option affects our ability to score goals, and in that sense, was not my primary concern.
The game started with the same aggressive football we saw in last week’s match; both teams opted to play through the middle, leading to physical contests and multiple turnovers. The first ten or so minutes were quite scruffy; both teams ran around setting up plays that were rarely converted into shooting opportunities. South in particular would just run the ball up the field, often having plays reset by goal kicks. Theo Markelis’ long-range shot in the 11th minute, however, signalled a more offensive Hume. Based on the stop-start football that was being played, it did feel as though set pieces would play a big role in this match-up, and their first impact came 9 minutes later. After being awarded a free kick, Danny Dixon’s low free kick is able to beat Roganovic, affording Hume the lead.
In the first half, South did have one massive advantage that made bringing the ball up the pitch simpler; we had the wind (which was arguably at gale force) on our side. It gave us multiple opportunities too; the backpasses in Hume’s defence were often too weak, and the relentless pressure of Peter Skapetis and Giuseppe Marafioti often led to counterattacks. If these pushes were unsuccessful, the wind often carried Micheal Weir’s goal kicks, and the physicality of both Marcus Schroen and Melvin Beckett in the centre also provided more attacking opportunities. 2 minutes after Dixon’s free kick, one of these counter attacks saw Gerrie Sylaidos launch a long range shot past Weir, but drifted just wide. Even with the wind though, we had been playing for over 20 minutes and were still struggling to create a scoring presence. Krousoratis and Marafioti weren’t providing much on the wings, and even with fullback Ben Djiba to link up with, not much was being created.
Towards the latter stages of the half we began to throw all our knowledge about goal scoring onto the table; our best chance came in the 31st minute, where a perfectly placed Krousoratis cross set up a powerful header by Melvin Becket, though his effort wasn’t too far from keeper, who plucks it from the air. Hume weren’t able to absorb the pressure we placed on them, but we simply couldn’t capitalise. Schroen’s wide header in the dying minutes signalled a scoreless half for South, and without the wind advantage, and our track record of mellowing in the second half, things were only going to get more difficult. There also seemed to be some questionable discipline at times, particularly when responding to refereeing decisions, which indicated to the fans thinly veiled composure. Krousoratis was subbed off at half time for Zac Bates, in an attempt to inject some life into our wings. Which is ironic, considering they are the preferred position of a majority of our attacking players.
Our comeback was almost made improbable from the first few minutes of play, where a free kick played to Marco Delic is converted, but the striker is deemed offside. While South were let off on that occasion, they didn’t do anything with their fortune, and were punished for it just 5 minutes later. After winning a corner, Steven Hewitt’s balls finds Paul Wilson, who doesn’t get the cleanest touch on it, but directs a fast-paced ball past Roganovic. It was only a few minutes later that Hewitt almost got his own goal for his efforts, though his questionable touch goes wide. South were still exerting pressure, but Hume were confident in their ability to stay on the ball, and confident that we couldn’t do anything on the counter. Our wings were really struggling to produce any complete runs, and our movement through the centre, while the stronger attacking option, still left a lot to be desired. In the 63rd minute, good buildup play did lead to a potential injustice; Becket’s shot being blocked by a defender’s forearm (which is quite clear when watching the replay), though no penalty was given.
It was in the 67th minute, however, where Hume effectively killed the game. A one on one between Aulton and Delic is won after the South defender’s attempted clearance is unsuccessful. Their battle allows time for multiple Hume attackers to steam down the line, and a pass to Thomas Harris is buried into the back of the net via a compelling strike. South did reply quite quickly after this third concession, with a strong Stratomitros header angled past the keeper from a corner kick. But Hume still controlled the game. No matter how much time we were allowed on the ball, we didn’t know what to do with it. Through Markelis and Dixon, the home side were almost able to make it 4, but South held their lines in the dying minutes to save face.
It wasn’t an ideal result, but it wasn’t a surprising one. Of our four games left, this was the match I was least confident about (even more than Heidelberg), and least hopeful about a surprise upset. By beating Dandenong Thunder next week, it becomes mathematically impossible for South to find themselves in the relegation spot. So let’s hope we win.
Notable players: Gerrie Sylaidos, Melvin Becket, Kostas Stratomitros
South Melbourne FC: 1
Hume City FC: 3