Hume City’s strong early-season form continued on Saturday night with a draw against Bentleigh Greens in the NPL.
Both sides had won their opening two matches and they could not be split at the final whistle in a 0-0 draw.
City coach Louie Acevski said the result did not reflect the match.
“I thought we were the better team on the night,” he said. “We just didn’t make the most of the scoring opportunities.
“If the score had have finished 2-0 no one would have questioned it.
“We’re creating opportunities, which is a good start.
“And it’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon.”
After a late start to the pre-season Acevski had low expectations for the first six weeks but is pleased with his side’s performance.
“We’re getting better each week and we want to get as many points as possible in the six week period to start the season,” he said. “I think Bentleigh are one of the top two sides in the competition.
“Like us, they’ll get better. We just have a few guys who need to get match fit to help us get our game to where we want it.”
The club is also waiting for English striker Tom Cahill to get a visa so he can make his debut with them.
Saturday marked goalkeeper Chris Oldfield’s 100th game for Hume, topping off a big week for him after his wife gave birth to twins.
“We hope he plays another 100 games for us,” Acevski said.
City is third on the ladder behind South Melbourne and Bentleigh.
After draws in the first two matches, Whittlesea Ranges scored their first win of the NPL2 west season against Sunshine George Cross on Saturday.
Ranges led 3-0 at half-time and although the second half was a lot quieter, with neither team having many opportunities, the damage had already been done.
Atila Ofli’s good early-season form continued with two goals, taking his tally to five. Stefan Baricevic was the other scorer.
Meanwhile, Sporting Whittlesea was knocked out in the FFA Cup on Saturday, going down on penalties to Melton Phoenix.
Sporting led 2-0 at half-time but Phoenix hit back in the second half to level the scores at 2-2 at the end of regular time.
Both teams scored once in extra time before Phoenix won 4-3 on penalties.
Elsewhere, La Trobe University lost 5-0 to Knox City, Lalor United lost 1-0 to Altona City, Hume United lost to Wangaratta City and Whittlesea United beat North Caulfield 3-1.
