The visitors jumped out to a 1-0 halftime lead at Wetherall Park courtesy of Takayuki Kayano, however, Jordan Nikoloski's equaliser midway through the second stanza was enough for the Zebras to share the honours in a 1-1 stalemate.

The result means that Coniston stay in third place on the ladder, equal on 16 points with Port, with Wollongong United and Bulli (15 each) putting pressure on both sides. Tarrawanna remain on top with 22 points, closely followed by Olympic (20). Sunday's draw also sees 'Cono' remain unbeaten in the past three weeks.

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"I'm a disappointed with the result, but happy with the effort of the players. It was a physical game and the boys got stuck in. But it's one of those where if we put our chances away, we come away with the points," coach Rob Jonovski said.

"After the game, we were talking about how we've got to put our chances in. [Matthew] Floro had a shot and it fell to Tyson [Black], but they cleared it off the line and scored a minute later. And we had a couple more chances after that. I think we definitely should have got a penalty in the dying stages of the game that wasn't given, and that's it. It's 1-1.

"But we're keeping positive, there's still another 12, 13 games to go. We need to stay in touch with those top sides. Clubs have dropped points over the last few weeks, and we've picked up the points, and we picked up a point this week and move forward."

Elsewhere, Craig Thompson began his reign as Corrimal's head coach in ideal fashion on Saturday as the Rangers claimed a 3-1 victory over the Rosellas.

Thompson - who took over the reins 48 hours earlier after the club unexpectedly parted ways with Goran Trajceski and Chris Peros - showed few signs of nerves at Elizabeth Park as the Rangers notched up their first win of the season.

It was a crucial result for the men in red and white, who have now added some breathing between themselves and Bellambi and last-placed South Coast United, who remain etched in a battle to avoid relegation.

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Olympic also claimed an important win, beating Tarrawanna 2-1 to move within striking distance of the Blueys on the competition leaders. In a see-sawing battle, Tory Musumeci's brace proved the difference.

Wollongong United secured a 1-0 victory over Bulli, while Cringila also thumped Woonona 3-0 and Albion Park returned to the winner's circle with a 3-0 win over South Coast United.

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