Report by Colin Outhwaite

Sean Canham’s hat-trick helped Sorrento hold off a late surge from Floreat Athena in a nail-biting 3-2 win at Percy Doyle Reserve.

Despite being 3-0 down, Jamie Eames and new signing John Thornley scored in quick succession for Floreat but couldn’t score another to grab a point against the Gulls.

Floreat coach Peter Murphy was chuffed with the second-half performance but thought they should have dealt better with Canham.

“I feel disappointed with the two goals in the first half,” he said.

“The big guy (Canham) did really well with the two headers but we should be able to defend against that.”

Canham opened the scoreboard in the 35th minute when he headed in a well-placed cross from Reece Vittiglia.

Two minutes later Jason Mirco shrugged off a foul down the right wing and delivered a brilliant ball to the back post which Canham again headed in superbly.

He almost got his third in as many minutes when he pestered the Floreat defence into giving him a free shot on goal, but goalkeeper Tom Dixon reacted quickly.

He finally got his well-earned hat-trick in the 62nd minute when he was conveniently positioned to bounce a keeper deflection into the goal with his shin after Todd Harnwell’s shot.

Sorrento was controversially denied a fourth when Mirco’s powerful strike from outside the box seemed to bounce over the line off the crossbar but the officials thought otherwise.

The third goal put Floreat into a nothing to lose mentality, and with a change of formation and a double substitution they began their attempted comeback.

Eames scored in the 68th minute after the hard working Aryn Williams and Ludovic Boi linked up to gift him a one-on-one with keeper Curtis Aspden.

Athena’s pressure forced Sorrento into a defensive error two minutes later and Thornley fired in another.

They immediately fought hard to capitalise on their momentum but Eames’ shot was directed straight into the gut of Aspden and Sorrento rode out the pressure to the final whistle.

Sorrento co-coach Jamie Harnwell said he couldn’t have asked for any more effort and commitment from his side.

“I thought we were in control for the majority of the game up until some sloppy defending,” he said.

“We just managed to hold off in the end. Floreat did well; they put us under pressure and took their chances.”

SORRENTO 3 (CANHAM 35’, 37’, 63’)
FLOREAT ATHENA 2 (EAMES 68’, THORNLEY 70’)
Saturday 17th May, 2014
Kick-off: 3:00pm
Crowd: Approx 400
Referee: Steven Gregory
Assistant Referees: Pedro Vasquez, Rory Jackson

SORRENTO: 1.Curtis ASPDEN (GK), 4.Shaun KILKELLY, 8.Brodie MARTIN (5.Adam LUCA 8’), 9.Todd HARNWELL (c), 10.Jason MIRCO (6. Daryl PLATTEN 72’), 13. Steve MCDONALD, 14.Chris REID, 15.Razack GELOO, 17.Reece VITTIGLIA, 18.Sean CANHAM (11.Scott BULLOCH 64’), 22.Ryan PEARSON.

Substitutes not used: 60.James MORGAN, 21.Mike McGINLEY
Yellow Cards: 14.Chris REID 25’, 5.Adam LUCA 42’
Red Cards: Nil

FLOREAT ATHENA: 1.Tom DIXON (GK), 4.Gary HILL (3.Jack ALLEN 46’), 8.Ryan PRETORIUS, 9.Jamie EAMES, 10.Aryn WILLIAMS, 12.Cameron YORKE, 14.Ludovic BOI, 16.Ashley CORKER (18.Shane NUNES 46’), 17.Callum FRANSZ (c), 19.John THORNLEY, 33.Mark WALSH

Substitutes not used: 23.Michael WOOLCOTT, 2.Blair GOVAN, 13.Andrew SCALDAFERRO 
Yellow Cards: 10.Aryn WILLIAMS 23’, 16.Ashley CORKER 36’, 8.Ryan PRETORIUS 88’
Red Cards: Nil