Report by Navrin Secker

Sorrento produced a comprehensive 4-0 win over fellow relegation battlers Subiaco at Percy Doyle Reserve on Saturday afternoon to give themselves a great shot at beating the drop.

A brace from Cameron Teece and a goal for Jack Salter put the Gulls in a commanding first-half position, before Witschge added another to ensure his side claimed the three points.

Sorrento assistant coach Steve Neville was delighted with the result.

“It was a massive game, hopefully the win puts us up the table a bit,” he said

“After the first 15 minutes, I thought we settled down and played some good football.

“We worked down both flanks and come half-time we thoroughly deserved the three-goal lead.”

The match started quite tentatively, with the visitors dominating possession but neither side creating chances.

Sorrento’s Danny Jones had the first clear opportunity after a darting run from midfield, but his shot was saved and went out for a corner. From the corner, Teece headed low past keeper Ryan Montgomery from close range to open the scoring.

Sorrento took control of the game after that and doubled their advantage when Teece again put the ball in the back of the net. A low ball into the box from the left found Teece, who after an initial tangle with the Montgomery tapped the ball in from close range.

Subiaco were struggling but had a rare chance when the ball fell to Dean Apelgren following a free-kick, but he hit the post with his curling effort from the edge of the box.

The Gulls continued to attack and Salter delivered their third goal when he ran on to a bouncing through ball, chipped the keeper and tapped home from close range to make it 3-0 at the end of the half.

The second half started with a bang when the home side made it 4-0 through Witschge, who tapped home from a low cross at the back post.

Despite improving in the second half, Subiaco couldn’t find a breakthrough with player-coach Ian McMurray unable to beat the goalkeeper from a one-on-one opportunity.

Mitchell Bath headed against the crossbar in the dying embers of the match and McMurray missed the ball from the rebound, allowing Sorrento to maintain their clean sheet.

McMurray accepted responsibility for his side’s defeat.

“We were disappointing. I changed a few things, tweaked the formation that we wanted to play in but it didn’t work so I take responsibility for the performance,” he said.

“We were chasing the game in the second half, but we just didn’t do enough."

The result makes it three wins in four games for the resurgent Gulls, while Subiaco have managed only a single win during the same period.

Sorrento 4 (Teece 24min, 32, Salter 44, Witschge 47)
Subiaco 0
Percy Doyle Reserve
Saturday, 7 July
Kick-off: 3pm
Referee: Julian Serra
Assistant referees: Albert Muyembe, Martin Hicks

Sorrento: 1. James MORGAN, 6. Daryl PLATTEN, 8. Scott WITSCHGE (7. Alex MORGAN 68), 10. Jordan ROBERTS, 11. Timothy HILL, 16. Chris Balazs, 17. Reece VITTIGLIA, 19. Jack SALTER (13. Steve MCDNOALD 90), 21. Godwin DARKWA (Jaxon TEMATA 68) 22. Danny JONES, 23. Cameron TEECE
Unused substitutes: 18. Jordan BROWN, 60. Anastasis FARSALEAS
Yellow cards: Nil
Red cards: Nil

Subiaco: 1. Ryan MONTGOMERY, 2. Nathan HARDIE, 5. Manase ABANDELWA (3. Vasco DE SILVA 73), 8. Ignacio DOMINGUEZ (17. Mark PRITCHARD 65), 10. Alex CASTIELLO, 12. Nathan SMITH, 13. Jonas DARLING (7. Mitchell BATH 56), 15. Anthony TOPINI, 16. Dan APELGREN, 18. Dave PERICH, 19. Ian MCMURRAY
Unused substitutes: 4. Robert HARDING, 21. Josiah GODFREY
Yellow cards: Nil
Red cards: Nil