Sorrento put Athena to the sword again

In the perfect warm-up for finals, a rampant Sorrento FC thrashed Floreat Athena by seven goals to two at Percy Doyle reserve on Saturday afternoon.

Report by Andrew Ellis

The home side were ahead inside three minutes, Reece Vittiglia linking up with Gavin Knight before sliding the perfect pass to Todd Harnwell. Harnwell showed good composure in rounding Brad Eiffe in goals before sliding the ball into the empty net.

Floreat did not let their heads drop and managed to pin Sorrento back for long spells in the opening half. They got their reward when David Heagney was bundled over by Ryan Pearson just outside the box. Mark Pritchard stepped up and curled a stunning free kick into the top left corner.

The visitors wasted good opportunities to take the lead through Pritchard and Ludovic Boi, Athena’s standout player.

The match’s decisive moment took place on the stroke of half time. Micheal Aspin played in Vittiglia who crossed to the unmarked Brodie Martin. Martin somehow directed his header straight at Eiffe and when the follow up landed at Harnwell’s feet, he did likewise.

From the resultant corner, referee Josh Mannella spotted something he didn’t like and awarded the home side a penalty. Vittiglia stepped up to take, and slammed his effort into the bottom left corner.

Athena were incensed heading in at half time, and it wouldn’t take long for their tempers to flare again once play resumed. Some tidy interplay on the edge of the Floreat box between Mirco and Vittiglia saw the ball squirt through for Mirco to prod home. The visitors were convinced Mirco was offside, but the flag stayed down.

Five minutes later Martin bundled home from a Mirco corner that the away defense failed to clear. Athena were shell-shocked.

Things would get worse in the 66th minute when Aspin cut in from the right, exchanged passes with Martin, and unleashed a fierce strike that Eiffe could only palm into the back of the net.

Floreat managed to reduce the deficit through Benny Kovadio, who showed good feet in the box before shooting low across Aspden into the bottom right hand corner.

The visitors let their frustration get the better of them in the 81st minute. David Heagney was shown a straight red for dissent. A minute later, Spencer Harris followed him down the tunnel after an awful foul on Todd Harnwell.

Jamie Harnwell, on as a substitute, made the numerical advantage count when he finished from a Todd Harnwell cross.

Steve McDonald made it seven shortly afterwards. Aspin floated a long diagonal ball into the box. Up went Eiffe and McDonald. As expected, the giant McDonald got there first, and although his effort wasn’t the most powerful, it managed to sneak past the defender tracking back to cover.

A resounding win for Sorrento, and one that will give them plenty of confidence when they host league leaders Bayswater in two weeks time. For Floreat, they will need to put this result behind them and focus on finding form ahead of the finals.

Sorrento 7 (Todd HARNWELL 3’, Reece VITTIGLIA (pen) 45’, Johny MIRCO 56’, Brodie MARTIN 61’, Michael ASPIN 66’, Jamie HARNWELL 85’, Steve McDONALD 88’)

Floreat Athena FC 2 (Mark PRITCHARD 26’, Benny KOVADIO 73’)

Saturday 18 August 2012

Percy Doyle Reserve, Duncraig

Local kick-off: 3:00pm

Crowd: Approx 300

Referee: Josh Mannella

Assistants: Gabriele Merlacco and Tom Glavovic

Sorrento FC: GK. Curtis ASPDEN, 3. Micheal ASPIN, 22. Ryan PEARSON, 6. Daryl PLATTEN, 14. Steve McDONALD, 20. Reece VITTIGLIA, 8. Brodie MARTIN (30. Danny CAIN 89’), 7. James MORGAN (10. Stuart MONTGOMERY 67’), 9. Todd HARNWELL, 12. Johny MIRCO, 17. Gavin KNIGHT (16. Jamie HARNWELL 71’)

Substitutes not used: 54. James MORGAN, 21. Darcy COSGROVE

Yellow cards: 22. Ryan PEARSON 25’, 7. James MORGAN 29’, 3. Micheal ASPIN 75’

Red cards: Nil

Floreat Athena: GK. Brad EIFFE, 3. Jack ALLEN, 4. Spencer HARRIS, 6. Mark PRITCHARD, 8. David HEAGNEY, 11. Benny KOVADIO, 12. Sandi LONCAR (15. Matt SPURLING 67’), 14. Ludovic BOI (9. Jake GEDDES 67’), 21. Mark WALSH, 10. Bobby WILSON, 19. Mikey ROBERTS (16. Jon BROOKS 46’)

Substitutes not used: 5. Jarrad SMITH, 23. Michael CRAGGS

Yellow cards: 6. Mark PRITCHARD 45’, 12. Sandi LONCAR 63’

Red cards: 8. David HEAGNEY 81’, 4. Spencer HARRIS 82’