A hapless Lou Acevski was left deflated after witnessing yet another second half capitulation as Hume City slumped to a disappointing home loss against an in form Melbourne Knights at Broadmeadows Valley Park on Sunday afternoon.
City, who did at times throughout the match play some free-flowing football, succumbed to two goals after the break.
It was a cruel blow to Acevski, who has seen his men do the same all too often throughout the second half of the season.
“I don’t know what it is – repeat offending or something like that,” he explained after the match.
“Week in week out, we do well first half and then we come out and get punished in the second half.
“Again, I think I said it a couple of weeks ago. It’s the story of our season – we miss our chances and gift goals.
“And that’s why we’ll finish where we will.”
The home side were undeniably up against it from the outset, missing the likes of their skipper Nick Hegarty among other regular starters, hampering any chance they had of halting the Knights juggernaut.
“We definitely missed Nick, who’s been quality for us,” he admitted.
“Turhan pulled out through illness before the game, Naum Sekulovski had a swollen ankle, Ersin Kaya was sick, Jack Turner pulled out sick.
“So we had four boys that weren’t close enough to it. And a few boys that have left the club, so yeah it’s been a tough week.”
He did make mention of youngster Emin Sele, who battled away admirably up front on his own at times , believing that he is someone who will be seeing some more first team action soon.
“Emin did really well,”Acevski said.
“I watched him in the reserves and brought him in.
“He’s got a lot of potential – he’s 16 or 17 years old. I gave him an opportunity today and he didn’t let us down. He got tired but with more training sessions and games, he’ll get better.”
Acevski will be hoping that his side can complete the season on a high note when they travel to Northcote to face the minor premiers.
“I always put it back onto each individual where regardless of whether you’ve got nothing to play for, you’ve got self-pride,” he declared.
“I know if I was playing, I know what I’d want to do, but again we’ll see how we go next week.”