Report by Hinako Shiraishi

Cockburn City produced a storming second-half comeback to see off Stirling Lions 4-2 at Dalmatinac Park on Saturday.

The Lions were well placed at half-time after bossing the opening period and well worth their 2-1 lead. But they succumbed after the break as Cockburn maintained their 100 per cent start to the new NPL season.

Cockburn even had defender Daniel Dols sent off four minutes from time with the score at 3-2, but that didn’t stop them adding a fourth goal.

Cockerels coach Scott Miller admitted his team were second best before the break but also praised their recovery.

“Honestly, Stirling did dominate us in the first half, their movement was fantastic,” Miller said.

“However, after we adjusted a couple of things we dominated the second half. We played a very good team tonight and we got everything we deserved in the end.

“This part of the year is great because you want to try and build some confidence, so that’s what we’ll do.”

Luccas Mello opened the scoring for Cockburn after 24 minutes but Stirling were soon on terms through Alex Tanevski.

And the Lions deservedly nosed ahead in the 32nd minute when Tanevski grabbed his second following a neat pass from Dean Cummings.

But the game turned around completely in the second half. On 56 minutes Cockburn were level through Aden Da Luz and 15 minutes from time they regained the lead when Cameron Edwards struck.

Yet the Lions were thrown a lifeline when Dols, who had earlier been booked, was sent off. But Cockburn wrapped up the points in injury time with a goal from Ryan Pratt.

Stirling coach Keegan Ashley said: “For the next round, we’ll assess ourselves during the week and go from there.”

Cockburn City 4 (Mello 24 min, Da Luz 56, Edwards 75, Pratt 90)
Stirling Lions 2 (Tanevski 28, 32)
Saturday, March 3, 2018
Dalmatinac Park
Kick-off: 7pm
Referee: Michal Jasinski
Assistant Referees: Andre Ferreira, Harry Bolan

Cockburn City: 3. Daniel DOLS 4. Euen GRANT 5. Keiron STALLARD 6. Reuben TRISTAO 7. Luccas MELLO (12. Ryan PRATT 89) 8. Cameron EDWARDS 9. Julian TELES (19. Anthony SKORICH 63) 10. David ARAYA 16. Daniel ROBINSON 17. Jesse LAZZARO 18. Aden DA LUZ 23. Ryan BARKER
Substitutes not used: 1. Luke RADONICH 2. Chris THACKRAY
Yellow cards: Dols 65
Red card: Dols 86

Stirling Lions: 2. David MOLINARI 3. Darren O’RIORDAN 4. Alex SULESKI 5. Liam HENDERSON 6. Dhors CHOL 7. Dean CUMMINGS (19. Zane CASELLA 60) 9. Robert PETKOV 11. Alex TANEVSKI 14. Abu DULLEH (12. Matthew CHERRIE 48) 15. Steve SOKOL (18. Ben CAMPBELL 72)
Substitutes not used: 13. David FILIPPOU 20. Pasquale GIOFFRE
Yellow cards: Henderson 42
Red cards: Nil