New Delhi: Benched for most part of of the season, Canadian star Iain Hume retuned to scoring with a fabulous hat-trick that helped Kerala Blasters register what was their second win in nine matches, dumping hosts Delhi Dynamos 3-1 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here on Wednesday.
After being limited to a few substitue appearances under previous head coach René Meulensteen, the changes at the helm of affairs saw Hume get what was his first start in three matches and he grabbed the opportunity with full hands giving the visitors a lead as early as the 12th minute.
Some great work by Courage Pekuson at the left channel saw the Ghanaian beat Pritam Kotal before sending a delightful cross into the box that was nodded into the net by Hume after Gabriel Cichero almost transformed it into an own goal.
It was the home side however who started well aiming to continue from where they had left off against Chennai City with Lallianzuala Chhangte constantly threatening the Blasters defence with repeated runs. But Hume’s goal against the run of play brought Kerala alive into the fixture before Pritam Kotal levelled terms at the brink of half-time.
A Romeo Fernandes free-kick beat the entire Blasters defence to find Kotal’s header and the Indian full-back did not make a mistake to sail it past Subhasish Chowdhary. The visitors could have well gone ahead minutes after play resumed but only for Romeo to find the side-netting after Paulinho Dias had send the former clear on goal.
The home side picked up their ante soon and looked the most likely to score but it was Hume who gave Kerala their second of the night, with a brilliant solo effort that had goal written all over it in the 78th minute and five minutes later competed the hat-trick, his first this season with a wonderful chip over an rushing substitute goalkeeper Arnab Das Sharma.
It was also David James’ first win this season and he could not thank Hume enough saying, “Even with the bandage on his face, he kept going.” The win propelled the Blasters to sixth with 11 points from nine outings while Delhi remained last having played the same number of matches.