The Wollongong junior, who now calls Sydney club St Michael’s home, used his local knowledge of the Port Kembla layout to fire the low score of the day with a one-over 73.

It ramped up the pressure on 15-year-old Mt Broughton star Ben Clapham who seized a three-shot lead with a composed 74 yesterday.

But Smyth, who drained a morale-boosting birdie on the final hole, was happy with his leaderboard status.

‘‘My goal is, at worst, to be three or four shots off the lead going into the final day,’’ he said. ‘‘Wollongong is another one of my home tracks so I would be confident being only a few behind going into the last day.’’

It was during the last round of the 90-hole tournament that Smyth, a scratch marker, asserted his authority in breezy conditions last year.

He was due to be joined by St Michael’s pair Shaun Cameron and Jake Baker for this week’s event, but they were late withdrawals.

‘‘They actually got asked to go down and play the Australian Amateur in Melbourne and obviously that’s the bigger tournament so they went down to Melbourne at the last minute,’’ Smyth said.

St Georges Basin youngster David Woodall is third overall, four shots adrift of Clapham.

The girls’ section looms as an exciting battle between Stefanie Hall and Natika Dunn. After the pair both carded opening-round 80s at Russell Vale, they again matched each other with rounds of 90 at Port Kembla.

Kareela’s Gabi Beohm has surged to a 16-shot buffer in the race for handicap honours.

The third round will be played at The Grange today.