Port Kembla squandered a fantastic opportunity to move into the joint lead of the Illawarra Premier League by drawing with 10-man South Coast United at Wetherall Park. Luke Boersma scored from a free kick half an hour into the match before United utility Chris Valic saw two yellows in the period leading up to halftime. The visitors soaked up the pressure before a former Port striker Chris Smith scored via a rapid counter-attack with a quarter of an hour remaining.

The home side had a couple of chances to score inside the opening 20 minutes, however, Jason Bleakley was on hand to make two solid stops, first from a Brad Acev header and then a one-on-one save against Jason Perez.

Port opened the scoring a tick after the half-hour mark when Josh Crapis won a free kick within the D. Boersma would take the set-piece which he drove under the wall before finding the bottom right corner.

In the 35th minute, United nearly equalised in slapstick fashion when a ball was played over the top of the Port defence. Daniel Farina sprinted out to clear the ball but he thumped it into Cameron Hanson with the ball flying in the air and landing just wide of the goal.

The chances of the visitors taking anything from the match were drastically reduced minutes from halftime when Chris Valic picked up two bookings in the space of five minutes with the second being a mistimed challenge on the edge of the area.

Port had complete territorial control in the second half, however, Bleakley was rarely tested by efforts on target. The home side’s inability to put the match to bed cost them in the 77th minute when South Coast broke down the right wing. Josh Messinis bolted for a ball which seemed certain to go out of play before whipping a ball in from the right which found Josh Hawker whose scuffed header fell to Smith to bury past Farina from close range.

The home side scrambled to recapture the lead in the final stages of the match with Acev, Jayden Salucci and Nathan Belsito all having chances from inside the area, however, none were able to find the target leaving the points to be shared.

The draw maintains South Coast’s position one spot above Cringila Lion’s at the foot of the table. United player-coach Greg Valic was extremely satisfied with his side’s output especially veteran striker Smith who came close to going off midway through the first half after a knock.

“We’ve had two draws, the previous one felt like a loss but that one was massive,” Valic said.

“The one point doesn't show how much heart and how much effort and tactically how good we were so yeah massive point, I’m very proud.”

“[Smith] probably shouldn’t have gone the ninety minutes… but the game called for him to stay out there and he finished the chance that he got.

“He’s been fantastic, he helps the players out, he’s intelligent, he’s a great fit for us and it’s a pleasure playing with him.”

South Coast take on local rivals Wollongong United at Macedonia Park in round five and Valic acknowledges he will have to confront some selection headaches.

“It’s going to be tough because obviously we picked up a suspension today and you would notice from our lineup that we already have quite a few regulars missing, so we are a little bit light on the ground,” he said.

“We are going to have to assess the squad come Tuesday and come up with a plan tactically to stop [Wollongong United] because I have watched them once or twice and they have some fantastic players.”

As for Port Kembla, they remain in fourth, however, they are now equal on points with third-placed Bulli. Steven Dimitrievski’s side will look to turn around back-to-back disappointing results in their Good Friday home clash with fellow top five contenders Tarrawanna.

Saturday 13 April 2019 @ Wetherall Park, Primbee

Port Kembla - 1 (BOERSMA 31’)

South Coast United - 1 (SMITH 77’)

Port Kembla - Daniel FARINA, William MOBSS, Nathan BELSITO, Karouna MICHAEL, NOBUAKI MOCHIZUKI, Fabian IACOVELLI, Josh CRAPIS, Brad ACEV, Jason PEREZ, Mitch Di PIETRO

Substitutes - Jayden SALUCCI (on for DI PIETRO), Sandy LOWCOCK (on for CRAPIS), Toni MUSUMECI, Dylan NIKOLOVSKI, Chris FUENTES RAMIREZ

South Coast United - Jason BLEAKLEY, Dylan MENA, Chris VALIC, Greg VALIC, Josh MESSINIS, Zac HAWKER, Chris SMITH, Callum RUSSELL, Josh HAWKER, Cameron HANSON, Byung-Kuk CHO

Substitutes - Kieren BRODNIK (on for RUSSELL), Mark VIDAIC, Anton BATUR, Brody MURRELL, Kristian KARAMATIC

Referee - Andrew NAYLOR

Assistant Referees - Mick AGIM, Jackson GIUSTINIANI

Report by Dylan Arvela, on Twitter @dylanarvela

Photo by JC Sports Photography