Report by Callum George

Stirling Lions claimed an impressive 2-1 victory over fourth placed Sorrento thanks to a second half strike from winger Moses Kalau on Saturday.

With a Westfield FFA Cup Round of 16 clash with South Melbourne scheduled for Wednesday night, Sorrento coach Jamie Harnwell opted to rotate his side for their clash with Stirling at Macedonia Park.

The hosts only had Sorrento on their minds and opened the scoring after five minutes when Blamo Qua Qua drilled brilliantly into the corner from the edge of the area.

Stirling’s lead lasted only three minutes, as Reece Vittiglia slipped in behind the defence and finished at the second attempt to draw Sorrento level.

Sorrento were growing in confidence and Vittiglia almost gave the visitors the lead midway through the first half, when his free kick from 30 yards rattled off the crossbar.

Scott Johnson nearly gave the Gulls a half time lead, but his shot on target was cleared off the line by Alex Tanevski.

The second half was an end to end battle, but both sides struggled to create clear cut chances going forward.

Just after the hour mark Stirling winger Moses Kalau brought the match to life, darting down the left wing, cutting inside and firing a shot through Sorrento goalkeeper James Morgan.

Stirling were full of confidence and not long after taking the lead they almost had another, when Tanevski got down the left and forced a good save from Morgan.

Sorrento turned to Sean Canham off the bench to give them a spark and the target man almost created something instantly, when he teed up George Hunter, who was denied by a good save from John Perkins.

Canham was then denied himself by a fingertip save from Perkins as Sorrento fought to the end, but it was Stirling who ran out 2-1 winners.

Stirling Lions 2 (Qua Qua 5min, Kalau 61)
Sorrento 1 (Vittiglia 8)
Saturday, August 19, 2017
Macedonia Park    
Kick-off: 3:00pm

Stirling Lions: GK. John PERKINS, 2. Michael PUGLIESE, 4. Blamo QUA QUA, 5. David MOLINARI, 6. Dejan SPASEKI, 9. Alex TANEVSKI, 10. Daniel MICEVSKI, 15. Adrian KOIOS, 17. Darren O’RIORDAN, 18. Moses KALAU, 19. Cameron TEECE ( 14. Lukas DE LIMA 84’)
Substitutes not used: 3. Zane CASELLA, 12. Robbie MCNEIL, 13. Nicholas ASHLEY, 20. Lance ALAVAKIS
Yellow Cards: Cameron TEECE 17’, Dejan SPASEKI 37'
Red Cards: Nil

Sorrento: GK. James MORGAN, 3. George HUNTER, 4. Shane KILKELLY, 5. Scott JOHNSON (9.Sean CANHAM 70’), 6. Daryl PLATTEN, 8. Ryan PEARSON (2. Jacob SHORE 81’), 11. Tim HILL, 17. Reece VITTIGLIA (7. Alex MORGAN 28’), 18. Jordan BROWN, 20. Brad MCDONALD, 21. Sam BYLES
Substitutes not used: 2. Jacob SHORE, 9. Sean CANHAM, 12. Joshua TUCKER, 60. Anthony SALPIETRO
Yellow Cards: Shane KILKELLY 54’, Sam BYLES 62’
Red Cards: Nil