Gulls Beat Cockburn to Seal Fourth
Report by Colin Outhwaite
Sorrento have sealed fourth place in the PS4 National Premier Leagues with a 2-1 win over Cockburn City at Percy Doyle Reserve.
Ryan Pearson put the Gulls in front before Harry O’Brien equalised, but Sean Canham earned them the three points with a goal on the brink of half time.
In turn, Sorrento ruined Cockburn’s hopes of a top-four finish with coach Jamie Harnwell seeing his side clinch it again for his second year in charge.
Harnwell said while it wasn’t the most entertaining game they accomplished what they set out to do.
“Considering the turnover of players we had from last season and what people thought we’d achieve, it’s quite satisfying to be up there again,” he said.
Harnwell is now looking ahead to their September 12th Cup Final against Perth SC.
“It’s great motivation for the players and something to look forward to with there being no finals this year.”
It was a tame opening 10 minutes before Pearson provided the game’s first highlight on 13 minutes with a shot from the left that hit the net.
Cockburn then levelled six minutes later when O’Brien deflected Rory Patterson’s strike into the goal.
Conor Kavanagh caught the Sorrento defence napping in the 32nd minute and put through Patterson with a ball over the top, but he skied his shot to the relief of the back four.
Jonathan Corness then hit the underside of the crossbar in the 44th minute but the ball didn’t cross the line and Pearson cleared the danger.
Two minutes later Canham added to Cockburn’s frustrations, taking advantage of a defensive error and firing into the far right corner to put the Gulls in front for the second time.
Chances were few and far between in the second half with substitute Julian Teles’ shot over the bar in injury time being the most threatening effort.
Cockburn coach Marc Anthony thought his side was excellent in the first half despite the score line.
“We should have scored two or three but that’s been the story of our season,” he said.
Cockburn still have fifth place to play for with Inglewood, Stirling and Balcatta all in the running and are looking ahead to next week’s game against ECU Joondalup.
“It’s never easy playing at ECU, they’ve got a few good players that could cause us problems so we need to make sure we’re up for the game,” Anthony said.
Sorrento FC 2 (Pearson 13 mins, Canham 45+1)
Cockburn City 1 (O’Brien 19min)
Saturday 22 August 2015
Venue: Percy Doyle Reserve
Local Kick-Off: 3.00pm
Referee: David Costello
Assistant Referees: Ammar Timour, Alex Best
Sorrento: 1. James MORGAN (GK), 4. Shaun KILLKELLY, 6. Daryl PLATTEN (c), 8. Ryan PEARSON, 9. Todd HARNWELL, 11. Thomas BOSS (22. Lewis HALL 40’), 12. Jack EADES, 13. Steven McDONALD, 18. Sean CANHAM, 19. Jack SALTER, 20. Brad McDONALD (7. James A. MORGAN 76’)
Substitutes not used: 15. Scott BULLOCH, 21. Jordan DODD, 60. Jordan BLANK
Yellow cards: Nil
Red cards: Nil
Cockburn City: 23. Jack ADAMS (c), 3. Jonathan CORNESS, 4. Euen GRANT, 5. Alan CARROLL, 6. Harry O'BRIEN, 7. Friday ZICO (16. Julian TELES 59'),, 10. Rory PATTERSON, 12. Feisal ZAW, 13. Blake ADAMS (8. David ARAYA 86’), 14. Conor KAVANAGH, 17. Eamon McNELIS (c),
Substitutes not used:1. Eric CUTRI, 2. Josh KUSER
Yellow Cards: Zico 38, Carroll 51
Red Cards: Nil
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