Report by Aidan Shaw

Photo by Fotoenzo

Floreat Athena went to the top of the PS4 NPLWA table with a 2-1 win over Sorrento at E&D Litis Stadium on Saturday.

A second-half brace by Jonathan Stynes was enough to see Athena leapfrog their opponents at the top.

Stynes said his side battled for each other in a dominant performance, controlling the majority of possession and creating chances.

“It feels incredible, and it is even more intensified because it brings us top of the league,” he said.

“I’ve been playing well recently but the only thing that has been missing has been the end product, so today I was really focusing on that and I went about it to score two which has been brilliant.

“It is all about working for the team and making sure we all do the hard yards and I think it is working.”

The home side dominated proceedings in the first half and were unlucky not to find themselves ahead at the break.

Play was delayed after the half-hour mark when a collision saw Clayton Arnez go down for several minutes before being replaced by Dennis Galan.

The match came to life early in the second half when Jackson Morgan fired a long range lobbed effort that rebounded off the corner of the post.

Jonathan Stynes was quickest to the follow-up, and fired home to give his side a well-deserved lead.

Despite having played second fiddle up until that point, Sorrento responded within minutes to draw level.

Jacob Shore’s pin-point cross from the left found Sean Canham in the box, who headed home leaving Jordan Barbas glued to the ground.

Stynes bagged his second to restore the lead in the 70th minute following a sustained period of attacking pressure.

A lengthy goalmouth scramble saw several shots fired before Stynes pounced and drilled the ball home via the crossbar to send Floreat’s supporters into raptures.

Despite several chances to salvage a point, Sorrento found themselves empty handed and slipping to second at the final whistle.

Sorrento’s Steve Neville conceded that the result was a fair reflection of his side’s performance on the day.

“They looked far more hungry than us. I think we got what we deserved today, nothing,” he said.

“We were very flat, and from a coaching point of view it was not good enough. Today was a complete contrast to what we have done this season.”

Floreat’s Glenn Grostate was delighted with his side’s performance, and praised the efforts of a young playing group with some key senior players missing.

“What was pleasing for me was the work rate of Stynes and Zelfy (Nazary), it was just all over the park and you can’t beat big teams in big games unless you play big,” he said.

“For us to actually win we had to be at our best and that is probably close to the best I’ve seen us to be honest with you.

“We were pretty poor at Armadale (last week), but that’s football. You’re going to go highs and lows, and this was definitely a high for me. This is one game that I really wanted to win today.”

Floreat Athena 2 (Stynes 49min, 70)
Sorrento 1 (Canham 51min)
Saturday, April 29, 2017
E&D Litis Stadium
Kick-off: 3:00pm
Referee: Tom Glavovic
Assistant Referees: Josh Mannella, Frank Laval

Floreat Athena: GK Jordan BARBAS, 2. Shaun TIMMINS, 3. Clayton ARNEZ (11. Dennis GALAN 33), 4. Andrew SCALDAFERRO, 6. Jesse FULLER, 8. Jonathan STYNES, 10. Kristopher GATE, 12. Jackson MORGAN, 13. Zelfy NAZARY, 15. Christopher SALDARIS, 17. Dean EVANS (c)
Substitutes not used: RGK Aidan HOLLOWAY, 16. Ryan MALTON, 20. Joe TWEATS, 33. Ali NAZARY
Yellow cards: nil
Red cards: nil

Sorrento: GK James MORGAN, 2. Jacob SHORE, 6. Daryl PLATTEN (c), 7. Alex MORGAN (10. Scott BULLOCH 63), 9. Sean CANHAM, 13. Steve MCDONALD, 14. Scott WITSCHGE (5. Billy QUINNCROFT 81), 17. Reece VITTIGLIA, 18. Jordan BROWN (4. Shaun KILKELLY 75), 20. Brad MCDONALD, 21. Sam BYLES
Substitutes not used: RGK Anthony SALPIETRO, 11. Timothy HILL
Yellow cards: Brown 53
Red cards: nil