16 years after representing the Woonona Sharks, Greg Smart returned to Ocean Park to put a dampener the club’s 125^th anniversary celebrations.

Now the coach of the Bellambi Rosellas, Smart and his team earned an unlikely 2-2 draw against 3^rd placed Woonona in their local derby.

Bellambi were robbed of their first win of the season by a last minute Nino Merxhushi equaliser in a game where the Rosellas spent the best part of an hour with 10 men.

“I thought with ten men we dug in quite well and only until the last ten minutes there we ran out of legs,” said coach Smart.

“You wouldn’t have known we had ten men out there, we defended very well and we took it to Woonona.

“I’d have taken a draw at the start of the day but with how we played and the way the game went, it’s a little bittersweet not to come away with a win.”

Bellambi took the game to Woonona early, asserting their physical presence over a much younger, inexperienced Sharks side.

The Rosellas made the breakthrough in just the 3^rd minute when Jacob Fryday calmly slotted the ball past Woonona keeper Paul Bitz after being sent through on goal.

An equaliser came against the run of play for the Sharks when striker Adam Di Pietro pounced on a mistake at the back to make it 1-1 in the 20^th minute.

Bellambi’s sturdy first half seemed to slip away when Michael Beveas was sent off for a deliberate handball on the line but keeper Alex Makin made a superb save to deny Trent Worthington from the spot.

Minutes late, Ben Moerman was brought down inside the Woonona box to earn his side a penalty of their own.

Captain Dale White stepped up and smashed the ball home to give Bellambi a surprising 2-1 lead heading into half time.

A valiant defensive display in the second half had Bellambi on the verge of their first win of the season.

But Merxhushi was able to latch onto a loose ball in the 90^th minute to secure a point for Woonona.

For coach Smart it was a bittersweet return to his old stomping ground.

“To come back here after 16 years, see all the old faces and coach in the derby I used to play in; it was a good day,” he said.

“I think it was great to get a result against one of the top four teams in the competition and when you think about where we are compared to where they are, you could never tell the difference.

“It just shows on any given day any team is capable of winning.”

The draw shifts Bellambi back on terms with Fernhill on three points as both teams look to separate themselves from a possible relegation.

Woonona slipped back to 4^th with the draw and only hold a one point advantage over 5^th placed Wollongong United.

Woonona 2 (A. Di Pietro, N. Merxhushi)        Bellambi 2 (J. Fryday, D. White)

Yellow Cards: C. Gibson, J. Mucci                 Z. Noel-Strang

Red Cards:                                                M. Beveas

Referee: Chris Munn

 

FSC Reporter

Julian Keith