Report by Bobby Stamatoski

Sorrento extended their winning streak to three games by outgunning Stirling Lions 5-3 at Percy Doyle Reserve on Saturday afternoon.

Two-goal Jordan Roberts led the way for the Gulls, who are now just two points off the top of the National Premier Leagues WA ladder following the Round Five losses suffered by Bayswater City and Perth Glory.

Sorrento coach Jamie Harnwell was full of praise for Roberts and Scott Witschge and was in no doubt they deserved the win.

"For the spectators this would've been fantastic, but not so much for the coaches. I thought we deserved to win. I thought we were the better side," Harnwell said.

"We created enough chances but we’ve still got to get better defensively, unfortunately."

"I thought Jordan was excellent today; Scotty Witschge on the other side was as well. We wanted to make sure we got the ball out to them earlier and quickly because they are so dangerous."

For most of the first half the hosts were happy to soak up the pressure and counter.

And it proved to be an effective approoach when Stirling fell victim to a 27th-minute screamer from Timothy Hill, who did well to get past his marker before unleashing a left-foot strike from 35 yards into the top corner.

The visitors pushed hard to equalise but were caught cold from another break just before half-time. This time Roberts took off from his own half and with no one near him, he calmly slotted past Lions keeper Lance Alavakis to make it 2-0.

And just six minutes after the restart Sorrento extended their lead further when Alavakis gave the ball away to Roberts, who chipped the ball over him for his second of the game.

But Stirling weren’t going down without a fight and they got back into the match through a penalty, which David Micevski scored.

And 3-1 soon became 3-2 when Dhhors Chol fired in a screamer from 30 yards out, much to the delight of the Stirling supporters.

Sorrento then went up the other end and after the Lions failed to clear a corner, home skipper Daryl Platten made it 4-2 when he got on the end of a great cross to head the ball home via the crossbar.

The visitors were not finished, though, and Dean Cummings made it 4-3. Keeper James Morgan did well to keep out the first shot but could do little to prevent Cummings following up to score.

Incredibly Stirling then almost levelled but Micevski’s shot went agonisingly wide in the last few seconds of the game.

And to rub salt in the wound, Sorrento finally snuffed out Stirling's hopes of an unlikely point when Witschge's deflected shot went into the top corner to make it 5-3.

Sorrento 5 (Hill 29 mins, Roberts 45, 52, Platten 64, Witschge 90)
Stirling Lions 3 (Micevski 54, Chol 61, Cummings 78)
Saturday, March 24, 2018
Percy Doyle Reserve
Kick-off: 3pm
Referee: Josh Mannella
Assistant referees: Darren Quinlan, Callum Haddow

Sorrento: 1. GK. James MORGAN, 7. Alex MORGAN, 6. Darryl PLATTEN (C), 19. Jack SALTER, 10. Jordan ROBERTS, 17. Reece VITTIGLIA, 14. Scott WITSCHGE, 4. Shaun KILKELLY, 13. Steve MCDONALD, 11. Timothy HILL, 28. Joel PROUT, 60. Anastasis FARSALEAS (RGK), 20. Brad MCDONALD, 23. Cameron TEECE, 21. Godwin DARKWA, 18. Jordan BROWN
Yellow cards: Kilkelly 45
Red cards: Nil

Stirling Lions: 1. Lance ALAVAKIS, 4. Alex SULESKI, 11. Alex TANEVSKI, 2. David MOLINARI, 10. David MICEVSKI, 7. Dean Cummings(C), 8. Dejan Spaseski, 5.Liam HENDERSON, 9. Robert PETKOV, 6. Dhhors CHOL, 16. Steve SOKOL, 20. Pasquale GIOFFRE (GK), 17. Zane CASELLA, 12. Matthew CHERRIE 72, 13. Joey PERKINS, 15. David TRAJKOSKI
Yellow cards: Henderson 63, Cummings 65
Red cards: Nil