Football West News

It was a huge season for the Gulls in 2017 who earned a spot in the Top Four Finals and became the first WA State League club to reach the last 16 of the Westfield FFA Cup. 

Despite that, coach Jamie Harnwell, who goes into his fifth season leading the side at Percy Doyle Reserve, thought thee team could have done better.
 
“The FFA Cup experience was fantastic and I was immensely proud of the players against Canberra Olympic and South Melbourne but we were knocked out in the semi-finals of the Night Series and lost in the State Cup final,” he said.
 
“For a club like Sorrento we need to be winning trophies and we were unable to do that. The expectations are that we will be up there again. We tailed off towards the end of last season and without that, we could have realistically been in the mix for the league.

"The FFA cup is also a priority for the club after the great exposure we had last year.”
 
It’s been a hectic time at the club with renovations at their ground, but Harnwell said the players have been fantastic in pre-season. “It’s been an interesting pre-season, to say the least, especially with the club undergoing major renovations,” he explained.
 
“It means we have been away from Percy Doyle Reserve for the majority of the pre-season without the use of the changing rooms and the club.

"Despite that, the players have worked hard and the two performances against Perth and Bayswater in the Night Series showed that we are moving in the right direction.”
 
The Gulls have brought back Jack Salter for this season and he has been joined by fellow New Zealander Godwin Darkwa.

Harnwell said they have brought in some new players and added some of the clubs youngsters to their squad.
 
“We’ve re-signed Jack and Godwin has signed from Waitakere United, New Zealand, and also added Cameron Teece, Jordan Roberts from the US, keeper Anastasis Farsaleas and we’ve promoted Danny Jones from the 20’s,” he explained.
 
“Danny has impressed since coming back in pre-season and has found his feet in the first team squad. He is an attacking player with good feet and a fantastic strike on him.”
 
Sorrento will open their NPLWA season with a trip to take on ECU Joondalup on Saturday, February 24, with a 3.00pm Kick-off.