While midfielder Marcus Schroen will forever be remembered for his heroic FFA Cup brace in the 4-3 thriller against Brisbane Strikers, there was another man for whom Hume City can count their lucky stars for once again performing when it mattered.
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Posted by Hume City F.C. on Wednesday, 29 July 2015
Captain fantastic Nick Hegarty has been at the centre of everything good that Hume have done this season, whether that’s been in an advanced wide position or in his favoured central role.
The classy left footer and Hume City skipper has lead by example in the league with his vision, laser like passing and eye for goal putting him amongst the premier midfielders of the 2015 season.
But while his impact on the national stage may have been overlooked for Schroen’s goal scoring exploits in this mornings papers, where would the Broadmeadows based club have been without their skippers influence?
In true ‘leading by example’ fashion, the trequartista took only three minutes to break the deadlock at ABD Stadium, steering in a first time strike from the edge of the box into the top left corner.
Responding in swift fashion, centre-half Greig Henslee looped an unstoppable header into the cobwebs of the top right corner to round off the first half.
Hegarty was one of the teams strongest performers up to that point, completing 20 passes at 77%, four dribbles and of course grabbing the opening goal.
But looking past just the numbers, it was the drive through the middle of the park that Hegarty brought that made him so dangerous.
Of his 20 passes, three were key passes, while he also steered a corner, free-kick and two crosses into the path of his teammates to create multiple goal scoring opportunities.
With the game in the balance, Hegarty began to take the game on more, completing three out of five ‘opposition take on’s’ and an elite 13/16 dribbles (81%, full-time figures).
He had a number of chances to burst the net with his trusty left peg, twice missing the target from range but not before forcing opposition keeper Fraser Chalmers into a fingertip save to deny his sweetly executed volley.
Hegarty noticeably dropped deeper in periods of the second half, and tended to hover in front of the defence to start attacks from the deep.
This in turn allowed Marcus Schroen more space to push up when necessary from holding midfield, whilst also testing his ability to do the dirty work.
Across the match, Hegarty made a strong defensive contribution, winning possession six times, including five interceptions, while also winning four out of five aerial duels.
He also applied 11 acts of close quarters pressure on an opponent, and capped off his display in the back half with two clearances.
Like their skipper, Hume dug deep to find two injury-time equalisers – in the 90th and 105th minutes – through Schroen, to cancel out goals to the Brisbane Strikers, who twice had the lead.
With the desperation growing in extra-time, and the scores locked at 3-3, Hegarty had another chance to steer in a long shot, this time his 119th minute drive was plucked out of the air by the Brisbane custodian.
But in the end it mattered little as an own goal for Brisbane sealed the Victorian clubs passageway into the Round of 16.
Hegarty finished with a total of 46 passes completed from 64 attempted – including seven out of 13 successful key passes – at 72%.
While it wasn’t the most complete game he’s played in a stellar season, his contribution to the contest was still incredibly important, as he troubled Brisbane with his set-pieces and always looked for that final ball to create a chance for his teammates
Should Hume harbour chances of progressing further into the competition, their skipper will have to be at his creative best, and on last night’s showing, he has the mettle to do it on a national platform.