By Justin Schwarze
Dandenong City will continue its quest for its first win in 2025 after being beaten 3-1 by Hume City in round four of the NPL.
City was at home at Frank Holohan Soccer Complex and after no massive chances were created throughout most of the first half, a big tackle left City in a promising position.
A yellow card was also assessed to the Hume City bench by the referee.
With a free kick, last week’s hero George Lambadaridis struck the ball wonderfully from outside the box, firing it past the wall and into the very top-right corner.
There was nothing Hume keeper Michael Weier could do as the ball flew into the back of the net.
The strike gave City the lead with just six minutes to play in the half.
Right on the eve of half-time, a nice through ball found its way to Will Bower, who powered through into the box, but his shot was kept out by a diving Weier.
When the whistle was blown for the break, Bower’s shot was only the second on target for either team for the whole first half.
The first 20 minutes of the second half were mostly played in midfield, with some minor chances opening up for Hume.
A quick change of possession ended with the ball at the feet of Birkan Kirdar for Hume, where he glided past two City defenders before caressing his shot nicely past the outstretched arm of Pierce Clark to even the score at 1-1.
Just two minutes later, a corner for Hume was deflected by City defender Kenjok Athiu into his own net, leaving City 2-1 down in a matter of minutes.
The nail was put in the coffin in the 89th minute for the hosts when Corey Sewell’s back pass to Clark was left short, allowing enough time for substitute Michael Domfeh to run onto it and intercept.
Clark went to ground, leaving an open goal for Domfeh to carefully put away the goal and the game.
After four rounds, the loss marks City’s first defeat of the season, but they are also winless, with three draws.
Their next match is away at Green Gully.
