Report by Matthew Corvi

Photo by Jonny Warrington

Bayswater City continued to cement their place at the top of the NPL WA ladder with a 4-2 triumph over Sorrento on a cold and windy Wednesday night at Percy Doyle Reserve.

Despite trailing for large periods of the game, Bayswater proved too strong for a resilient Sorrento side, who have lost five of their last six matches.

Bayswater striker Andrija Jukic was delighted with the result after setting up his side’s first goal before scoring the second.

“It’s always difficult coming to Sorrento, they always play well against us so it’s good to get the three points,” he said.

“I missed a few in the cup against Floreat so I just tried to get it on target today and it went in, luckily.”

Sorrento took the lead in the 37 minute when Jack Salter fired his side ahead with a powerful finish after a great run out wide by Reece Vittiglia.

With half-time approaching, Bayswater found the equaliser. After Jukic beat his man in the corner, the striker found Paul Lloyd on the edge of the box, who ensured the scores were level at half-time.

The match remained all-square for just four minutes of the second half, with Sorrento taking the lead again after Jordan Roberts finished a fantastic team goal.

Bayswater would not stay behind for long, however, and Jukic went from provider to scorer in the in the 63rd minute when he produced a strong finish from outside the box.

Despite having multiple chances, Sorrento couldn’t find a third goal and were made to pay in the 75th minute when Trent Kay powered home a header from a routine corner.

With just over 10 minutes to play, Sorrento pushed bodies up front to try to fashion an equalizer. Sadly for Jamie Harnwell’s side they conceded a fourth goal after a misplaced back-pass fell to Luke Salmon, who rounded the keeper and secured the three points for his side.

Harnwell felt they deserved more out of the game.

“I’m really happy with the performance, I don’t think we deserved to be beaten,” he said.

“We worked hard to score our goals and basically handed Bayswater theirs on a plate. We’re switching off at important teams and better teams will punish us.”

Sorrento 2 (Salter 37min, Roberts 49)
Bayswater City 4 (Lloyd 45, Jukic 63, Kay 75, Salmon 80)
Wednesday, May 2
Percy Doyle Reserve
Kick-off: 3pm
Referee: Steven Gregory
Assistant referees: Simon Hicks, Anthony Walsh

Sorrento: 1. James MORGAN (GK), 3. Jaxon TEMATA, 10. Jordan ROBERTS, 11. Timothy HILL ,16. Chris BALAZS, 17. Reece VITTIGLIA (C) (14. Scott WITSCHGE 73),18. Jordan BROWN, 19. Jack SALTER, 20. Brad MCDONALD, 21. Godwin DARKWA, 23. Cameron TEECE
Substitutes not used: 61. Anastasis FARSALEAS, 7. Alex MORGAN, 15. Samuel FAULKNER ,5. Joel SANDERSON
Yellow cards: Nil
Red cards: Nil

Bayswater City: 1. Devon SPENCE (GK), 4. Arran MAPLESTONE (22. Luke SALMON 59), 5. Adam HARRIS, 6. Todd HOWARTH, 8. Paul MCCARTHY, 12. David STOKOE, 13. Trent KAY (C), 17. Gian ALBANO, 19. Luka NINKOVIC (20. Giordano COLLI 89), 23. Andrija JUKIC (24. Jake SARDELIC 86), 26. Paul LLOYD
Substitutes not used: 25. Luke HUTCHINSON, 21. Riley VAN DIEKEN
Yellow cards: Nil
Red cards: Nil