South sees red as Hume unite

Second placed giants South Melbourne went down to fourth placed Hume City FC in spectacular fashion on Sunday at Broadmeadows Valley Park (John Ilhan Reserve). The Alanic Victorian Premier League match of the round ended in a 5-0 hammering, with South handed two red cards to compound their woes.

The Hellas fans were out in force and creating plenty of noise but it wasn't long before they were quietened with a magnificent strike from Hume United striker Richie Cardozo to put the home side in front on 15 minutes.

The next few minutes were evenly balanced before an off the ball incident saw VPL top scorer Jessi Krncevic was shown a straight red for an alleged elbow to the face of Hume stopper Adam Nakic that had the Hume players fuming and Nakic leaving the field holding his face.

South Melbourne battled gallantly until the 37th minute when prize signing Ljubo Milicevic was also shown a straight red card by VPL referee of the year Shaun Evans.

Evans was left with no alternative after Milicevic raised a high boot which caught the Hume player flush on the cheek.

Milicevic can count himself unlucky as there was no malice in the tackle and he was purely beaten for pace. Despite this red card was justified, leaving South Melbourne down to nine men with over a half of the match remaining.

The ensuing free kick was taken by Serdar Pir and after a goalmouth scramble Fabio Dilizia put Hume two goals up leaving South with a mountain to climb.

The second half was as you would expect with eleven vs nine. Hume controlled possession led by captain coach Andy Vlahos.

Vlahos was instrumental in the lead up play for Hume's third goal in the 48th minute with Steven Weir finding space behind South's defense to slot it home.

Weir again scored in the 65th minute easily getting through a tired South defense to put Hume four goals the good.

Richard Cardozo got his brace in the 85th minute to cap off a stunning victory that went part of the way to redeeming the 6-0 loss in the corresponding fixture last season.


In other games on Sunday third placed Oakliegh Cannons defeated Richmond 2-0 at Kevin Bartlett Reserve to keep the gap between themselves and top placed Dandenong Thunder to four points

St Albans were robbed of their first win of the season with Ryan Filipovic scoring three minutes into added time for Melbourne Knights to keep them six points clear of relegatio.