Coach Michael Garcia insists this afternoon’s performance to Sorrento was deserving of a better outcome that a 3-0 defeat. Inglewood United were more than a match for the Gulls but, as has been the case several times this year, an inability to convert chances into goals meant they had nothing to show for their endeavour over the 90 minutes.
“Today summed up our season so far,” Garcia said. “We are playing a good brand of football and dominating pretty much every opposition that we play. But for some reason we are just not taking the chances up front, that’s leaving the opposition in the game and putting us under a bit more pressure.”
“It also seems to be a weekly trend that we either cop a bad call from a referee or some goals that are hard to defend,” added the coach. Despite the loss, Inglewood’s fourth in a row, the club remain eighth in the National Premier Leagues, just two points outside the top five.
An all-action start by the visitors had Scott Witschge sting the gloves of James Morgan and Brian Woodall flash across the face of goal inside the first few minutes. Sorrento should have been reduced to ten men after James A Morgan kicked Witschge in the head, however, referee Adam Fielding failed to spot the nasty off-the-ball incident.
A crisp Andrija Jukic free-kick clipped the defensive wall and went over the top and Woodall steered wide an unchallenged header as swift movement of the ball continued to present openings for Inglewood. The half was close to an end when, against the run of play, Todd Harnwell’s strike from distance flew into the far top corner.
Both teams returned for the second half focused on attack but neither Sean Canham nor David Micevski were able to get their angles right. Jack Eades showed them how it’s done by drilling into the roof of the net from 17-metres after a ball-to-hand decision harshly went against Milan Ognjenovic in the 64th minute.
Inglewood refused to drop their heads and twelve minutes later Micevski’s low free-kick was spilled by Morgan, who managed to deflect away David Sesay’s follow-up. The result was put beyond doubt soon after by Ryan Pearson’s angled strike which curled over ‘keeper Jordan Howell to nestle inside the far upright.
Match stats
Sorrento 3 (Todd Harnwell 37), Jack Eades (64), Ryan Pearson (82)
Inglewood United 0
Sorrento: James Morgan, Daryl Platten, Lewis Hall, Shaun Kilkelly, Ryan Pearson, Todd Harnwell (Steve McDonald 67), Jack Eades, James A Morgan (Danny Cain 64), Scott Bulloch, Jack Slater (Thomas Boss 46), Sean Canham
Inglewood United: Jordan Howell, Jason Colli (Rikki Smith 69), Jovo Pavlovic, Milan Ognjenovic, Jarrad McNally, Mohamed Awad, Tom Gould, Andrija Jukic, David Micevski, Scott Witschge (Kenny Keogh 57), Brian Woodall (David Sesay 59)
Bookings: Eades (29), Awad (52)
Dismissals: Nil
