Two-strike Todd tames Lions
By Tom Davis.

The sun firmly shone on top of the table Sorrento in this round 14 fixture as they banished their Armadale woes with a 2-0 victory over Stirling Lions.

A glorious day welcomed the two sides to the Percy Doyle Reserve, with both sets of players having a score to settle after the last encounter ended in a 1-1 draw back in Round 3.

From the kick off Sorrento were on the back foot during the early stages as Stirling looked to build on their 4-2 victory over Inglewood last week.

In the first few minutes, Stirling's Rory Feely was testing Sorrento right back Scott Neville after some good link up play on the left with Jordan Rhodes. As Stirling continued to press the Sorrento defence, Feely was unlucky not to have put Stirling ahead at the near post after latching on to a driven cross by Rhodes in the 5th minute.

Sorrento's defence however proved resilient and Shaun Kilkelly nearly thrust the home side into the lead moments later. The defender rose in the box to head Stuart Montgomery's halfway line free kick and after Stirling Keeper Phil Straker spilled the ball, his defence managed to scramble it out for a corner.

Stirling put their foot back on the throttle and on ten minutes Alan Muir nearly made Sorrento pay for sloppy defending, striking his right-foot volley from the edge of the box past Neil Young's right post.

Sorrento managed to ease themselves into the game and Stirling keeper Straker nearly gifted them the lead in the 15th minute when his attempted clearance rebounded off a closing Todd Harnwell and flew past the left-hand post.

The home side's possession paid off and the deadlock was finally broken on 21 minutes. Harnwell was again involved making Stirling pay for several failed clearance attempts, by nodding in a left-sided cross by Glen Thomas at the near post.

Stirling were close to replying with an equaliser minutes later when a series of silky touches by Ludo Boi lead to him picking out Mark Anthony in the box, but he headed just wide of the right post after out-muscling Sorrento defender Kilkelly.

As Sorrento regained possession, the second goal came in the 36th minute with Harnwell doubling his tally. Harnwell gambled on a lofted pass from James Morgan, and after first colliding with Straker, he rose sharply to his feet to stoke the ball into the gaping net.

The second half began brightly for Stirling as they looked to claw their way back into the game with some early possession, but again the Sorrento defence was proving strong at the back.

On 52 minutes Martin Brodie nearly put the game to bed, but his shot on the half-volley was superbly tipped past the right post by Straker, after a cross from the left by Lewis Flatt.

More opportunities arose for Sorrento in the 55th and 56th minutes with Montgomery first failing to covert on the right after being played in by Neville, and Glen Thomas struck over the bar after a breaking run by Danny Cain.

Stirling looked more positive with the introduction of Phil Arnold in the 61st minute as his pace added a more attacking dimension to the team.

In the 80th minute, Arnold should have scored after he created space on the right of the Sorrento box but he unselfishly crossed instead of testing Young from close range.

In the closing stages Stirling maintained considerable possession in the Sorrento half but they failed to make any use of the long balls lofted up from defence. A comfortable Young and the strong unit of Cain, Kilkelly and Neville insured the home side went away with all three points.

A pleased Sorrento coach Steve Neville said: "It was a great result for us after going in at half time with a solid lead last week and ending the game with a draw. We defended really well and the midfield dictated play with some good possession and passing to ensure we took all three points."

Sorrento FC 2 V Stirling Lions SC 0 (Todd Harnwell 21, 36) HT: 2-0
Sorrento Percy Doyle Stadium, Saturday 26 July 2008.

Sorrento: N Young, D Cain, S Banks, S Kilkelly, J Morgan,  B Martin, T Harnwell, S Montgomery, L Flatt, G Thomas, S Neville. Subs not used: G Cambell, J Trepevski, D Gurovski, C O'Connell, A Cochrane.

Stirling: P Straker, M PugLiese, C Rutherford, D Evans, A Muir, L Boi, M Anthony, R Feely, S Porter, J Rhodes, S Heskith. Subs: C Harlond, P Arnold, L Harman, not used: M Bentley, M Italiano.

Referee: David Currie.