Hume City FC has secured back-to-back wins in the National Premier League with a 1-0 victory over Bentleigh Greens at NASIOL Stadium.

In a dominant display by the home side, it was Adisu Bayew’s decisive second half goal that proved the difference between the two teams as Hume City honoured Halit Kirdar in style.

Right from the get-go, we started brightly, with Whyte’s early long balls setting the tone and forcing consecutive set pieces in dangerous areas.

We continued to dominate the game for the next 15 minutes as the best chance in the first quarter came via a superb cross from Kirdar that was inches away from being met by Bayew, while a driving run from Chris Engelhart into the box just minutes later required a strong save from the Bentleigh keeper.

Hume City continued to press as a brilliant through ball from Aidan Coyne on 25 minutes found Bayew, who was brought down under pressure, though appeals for a penalty were waved away. O’Kane then tested the goalkeeper with a powerful low strike from distance soon after, before further chances fell to Godfrey Debele and Bayew, but the breakthrough remained elusive at the break.

The second half started the same way as the first as we immediately got on the front foot and continued to pile the pressure on the Bentleigh defence as Kirdar came agonisingly close in the 53rd minute, unleashing a long-range effort that struck the post.

Just past the hour mark, the deadlock was finally broken as a perfectly delivered ball from Kirdar on a corner looped beyond the keeper and towards a waiting Bayew, who rose above the defender to head the ball home.

The game had another pivotal moment when Bentleigh’s Anthony Franji was sent off for deliberate handball, reducing the visitors to ten men and handing Hume a significant advantage.

The resulting free kick struck the post for the second time in the match as we continued our search for a second goal. Unfortunately, that goal never came despite peppering the goal for the remaining 20 minutes with the contest one-way traffic in favour of Hume City.

Despite being unable to add another goal to our tally, we were never truly tested as the final whistle went to give us our second win of the year.

Hume City’s next fixture will be on the road against Green Gully at Green Gully Reserve in Keilor Downs on Friday 6 March at 7:30 pm AEDT.