Port Kembla look to build after impressive start to Illawarra Premier League campaign

The Zebras kicked off their campaign with a convincing 4-1 win over South Coast United, before fighting back from three goals down with 12 minutes left to salvage a draw against Woonona at Ocean Park on Saturday.

The Sharks had looked on track for a comfortable win after Robbie Gaudiosi found the back of the net in the 71st minute to complete his double. Teammate Corey Haines-Grose also had a brace, while Jayden Nikolovski scored the visitors' opener in the first half.

However, the Zebras surged home on Saturday, with Jordan Nikolovski scoring in the 78th minute to cut the deficit to 4-2. Nuno Pires then found the back of the net in the 85th minute, before Jordan Nikolovski completed his brace two minutes later to draw level as the teams shared a point each.

It was a great result for Beedie, who announced last September that he would leave Cringila to return and coach his old club's IPL side.

"When you're 4-1 down with 12 minutes to go at Woonona, you're not really expecting to come away with anything. But the whole team didn't want to just accept the result and we managed to get the 4-4 draw," Beedie said.

"What we've got to improve on is our defensive set up a bit, it's fairly new in terms of playing Bailey Fleming there, so we're definitely having some teething problems. But to score three goals in 12 minutes at Woonona, it's not something that's done too often.

"We're still finding our feet, like everybody I think in the comp. There's not huge expectations on this season. But we'll play the first round and see where we are. Hopefully we can be competitive and make a finals position with the team we've got. There's only two players left from last year who started yesterday, so it's a massive turnaround. When you look at Woonona, they had probably the same side, and added a couple of players as well, while we've basically got a whole new outfit. But it's an encouraging start."

Read more: Albion Park White Eagles, Illawarra Premier League coaches part ways

Conversely, for Sharks coach Dan McGoldrick, Saturday's draw was a disappointing way for the reigning Premier League champions to kick off their campaign.

"It felt more like a loss than a draw for us. I'm sure Port would have felt the opposite, like it was almost a win for them," he said. "We should have been able to manage the game and that's been one of the issues over the last three years. From time to time, we've struggled when we've led and led well to manage the game. We have this tendency to keep trying to play, in spite of what I tell them to not to do when we're at 4-1. It's about managing the game and letting the opposition come on to you, and playing on the counter. But I'll address that this week and the coming weeks so it doesn't happen again."

Round two IPL winners were Wollongong United, Wollongong Olympic, Bulli and Coniston, while Albion Park and the Rosellas also played out a 1-1 draw.