Football Matters with Cyclops 12 September

Last weekend featured just two Finals games. Thursday night, Division 2 Funkies beat Brothers 4-0, while on Saturday the Ladies lost 1-3 to Brothers. For the Preliminary Finals: the Ladies must beat Rebels Friday 6.30pm, and the Funkies must beat Saints Eagles Souths Thursday 6.30pm to reach their Grand Finals.

Division 2 Men
The C.A. Contracting Funkies faced Brothers in the elimination final. Brothers started strong, but Burdekin scored first through Chris Achille, before Brothers equalised. In the second half, Jack Castrejana gave the Funkies the lead, only for Brothers to level again. Extra time saw Fengil score twice to seal a 4-2 win. Standout performers: Jarrod Dal Santo, Jake Lacey, Fengil, Nicholas Cathcart, Jack Castrejana.

Ladies
Ayr Anzac Club Ladies fell 1-3 to Brothers in the semi-finals. Brothers led 2-0 at halftime, Tegan Johnson pulled one back, but Brothers scored again to win. The Ladies face Rebels Friday night, aiming to bounce back.

Juniors
Townsville teams played the last Saturday fixtures of 2025. Thanks to Saints Eagles Souths FC and all visiting clubs. This Saturday is the final matches and end-of-season breakup.

Masters
Masters Soccer concludes for 2025. Night Soccer has started; Masters returns in 2026.

National & International
European leagues paused for 2026 World Cup qualifiers; resumes this weekend. Matildas next face Wales on 25 October in Cardiff; Sam Kerr is back in training. Socceroos beat New Zealand 1-0 in Canberra Friday, and play again Tuesday in Auckland, with friendlies vs Canada and USA in October.

Quote of the Week is from Terry Venables, then manager of Barcelona. “When I arrived in the summer, one of my predecessors told the Spanish media that I would be gone by Christmas. He forgot to mention which year.”

Delta Cleaners Night Soccer
Night Soccer kicked off its 46th year on Tuesday.

Night Soccer started in 1979 as a means of keeping soccer players fit during the off season. In that first season there were eight teams, and the matches were played in Home Hill. From those inauspicious beginnings the competition has grown to be the number one sporting competition in the Burdekin.

Delta Cleaners have been the competitions sponsor since the very first season – and that must be some sort of record. The younger generation of Nucifora’s weren’t even born when Night Soccer started.

The winners of the competition back in 1979 were Bonato’s Club Hotel and the Ladies joined the competition in 1982. Night Soccer moved to the Brothers Rugby League Club in Ayr in 1980 and to its present base at International Park in 1981. In the 1998 season Night Soccer attracted 84 Senior teams and 36 Junior teams which meant that upwards of a thousand players were taking part in the competition every Tuesday.

In the 2024 season Night Soccer had 28 Men’s and 15 Women’s teams and that included seven teams of Solomon islanders. Hopefully the 2025 season will be at least as good.

Visitors to International Park often comment that the facilities are the best in North Queensland and Night Soccer has paid for a lot of them.

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