Football Matters with Cyclops

Local

The 2024 local football season got underway at last on Saturday at International Park. Burdekin Panthers played three home games on Saturday against Brothers but had to play on Field 2 because Field 1 was still unplayable. However, it was a successful Saturday, with the Premiers beating Brothers 5-3, and the Reserves drawing 1-1 however, the young and depleted Ladies side lost 0-12.

The Panthers were up against a Brothers team who were last year's minor premiers and grand final winners. The game started at a fast pace and Brothers settled in to take a 1-0 lead early in the first half. This goal served to energise Burdekin who turned up the intensity. Burdekin were awarded a penalty and Matthew Kolb calmly slotted it home to make it 1-1 after 20 minutes. Burdekin's front three of Elliott Dal Santo, Jay Leckenby and Matthew Kolb were causing all sorts of issues for the Brothers back line and the Panthers Burdekin took the lead with Jay Leckenby curling a nice left foot shot into the top corner to give Burdekin a 2-1 lead at half time.

The second half started as the first ended, with Burdekin giving Brothers no time on the ball. Jay Leckenby floated a ball to the back post which Jack Gimson met with a nice header to make it 3-1 and Matthew Kolb, made it 4-1 with about 25 minutes to play. This kicked Brothers attackers into gear, and they started to get involved in the game. With about 10 minutes left they scored a goal to make it 4-2 and a couple of minutes later they scored another to make it 4-3. After a good run from Elliott Dal Santo, Oscar Licciardello, only having come on the field a few minutes earlier (for his first ever premier league minutes no less) scored a fifth goal for Panthers to win 5-3.

Burdekin FC Reserves kicked off in the heat at 3pm running into a strong breeze. It was a bright start with good energy and enthusiasm. Several debutantes to this grade this season and all played their part in a solid performance. Two early chances to score were saved by the Brothers’s keeper and the match settled into a back and forth arm wrestle for most of the first half. A defensive mistake allowed the Brothers striker was able to get clear and score the opening goal around the 30-minute mark.

In the second half the Panthers had the benefit of the wind began to enjoy good field position with Brothers finding it difficult to make scoring chances. The commitment of the midfield to compete for every possession kept Burdekin on top continuing to trouble the Brothers defence. The Panthers kept their effort going for the entire game and after some good lead-up passing were rewarded with a debut goal to Jhett Jones when he found clear space to push the ball past the keeper in the 90th minute. After a few hectic minutes of injury time the final whistle gave Burdekin a well-deserved point against one of last season’s top sides.

The FQPL Ladies kicked off the season against last year's Grand Finalist Brothers FC and a difficult match was expected. Brothers took advantage of the inexperienced and young Burdekin side early on opening the scoring within the first minutes of the game. This unfortunately was not the only goal, and Brothers dominated the first half to lead 6-0 at half time. Some strategic defensive moves allowed Burdekin to apply a more structured and defensive effort and the Ladies opened the second half with a more composed style of football and made Brothers work hard to gain possession. Special mention goes to midfielders Maddy Dal Santo, Charley Ruskin and Kya Quagliata who helped contain the Brothers attack. However, fatigue and lack of fitness due to the lack of subs allowed Brothers to take the advantage using their speed and experience to make the final score 12-0. A disappointing result for the Ladies, however their sportsmanship and attitude will bring this young and inexperienced team hope for growth and development. The ladies welcomed three Premier League debutants, Chayse Feeney, Ava Heatley and Tahlia Lawson who each held their own and show great promise in what is to come. 

Burdekin Panthers Kappa Cup match against JCU Riverway has now been re-scheduled to Tuesday 12 March, 7.00pm kick off at International Park.

This weekend’s features away fixtures against Warriors at Melrose Park. Reserves kick off at 3.00, the Ladies at 5.00 and the Premiers at 7.00. At the time of writing 1st Division appear to have a bye.

Training, at International Park is on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 6.30 pm for men and Wednesdays at 6.00 pm for women. New to town? Come down to training and have a run.

Juniors

The final pre-season Saturday has been completed!  The weather was looking a little hairy at times, but we got it in! Teams will be e-mailed out this week, and coaches will be in contact with their team to organise training day and anything else.

Looking forward to first games this Saturday! More information on all this and the draw for Saturday will be out during the week.  A big thanks again to all who have put their hands up to coach the kids, it is much appreciated by everyone and you yourselves will get so much out of it.

Masters

Monday Night Masters had another good roll up and in a game of two halves, not to mention two pitches, Liverpool and Manchester City drew 4-4. Liverpool was ahead 2-0 at one stage but City fought back to go 4-3 up before Liverpool grabbed a last minute equaliser. Goal of the Game goes to John Federici. Old and New players welcome, usual time, usual place, 6.30 at International Park. Treat it as an escape…

National and International

The Young Matildas are in Uzbekistan, playing in the Under 20 Asian Cup. In their final group game, they defeated Chinese Taipei 3-0 and have now qualified for the semi-finals. Australia play Japan this Wednesday in Tashkent.

The Socceroos have two matches in March, against Lebanon, in the AFC Asian Qualifiers. The home leg will be played in Sydney on 21 March and then, due to the security aspect in the middle east, the second leg will be played in Canberra on 26 March.

In the A League, only two of the top five teams won. Central Coast beat Macarthur 3-0 to go top of the league as Wellington lost to Melbourne City. Victory moves up to third place two points ahead of Macarthur and Sydney FC stays in fifth spot after a 1-1 draw with Brisbane who drop to eighth place. Western Utd beat Western Sydney but stay bottom of the league.

In the A League Women, leaders Western Utd lost 1-3 to Sydney FC but stay at the top of the ladder two points clear of Melbourne City. Sydney FC stay in third spot and Victory remain in fourth place. Brisbane lost to Central Coast and drops to tenth place.

In the EPL with ten Rounds left it is still very tight at the top of the table with one point separating the top three teams. Liverpool drew 1-1 with Manchester City and with Arsenal winning their match, the Gunners are on top on the goal difference with City a point behind. Aston Villa stay fourth despite being marmelised 0-4 by Spurs. At the foot of the table only Notts Forest won. Burnley and Sheffield Utd are doomed, and Luton Town is in deep trouble.

In Germany, the top six teams all won, Leverkusen still leads Bayern by ten points. Third placed Stuttgart is another four points behind with fourth placed Dortmund a further six points adrift. At the bottom of the league, none of the nine cellar dwellers won and two out of Darmstadt, Mainz and Cologne look due for the drop.

In Italy’s Serie A, only two out of the top nine teams won. Inter and AC Milan were those clubs and Inter leads AC by sixteen points with Juventus a further point behind in third place. Bologna stays fourth and Roma fifth.

In Spain’s, La Liga five of the leading six teams won, only one out of the top ten teams won. Real Madrid leads Girona by seven points and Barcelona by eight. Atletico lost but stays in fourth place six points away. At the foot of the table Almeria is till yet to win a game and has nine points from twenty seven rounds!

Finally, in Ligue1 in France, PSG despite yet another draw is now ten points ahead of Brest. Third placed Monaco is a further point behind, and Lille stays in fourth place. At the foot of the table Clermont look doomed.

The 2nd Leg of the Europe Champions League Quarter finals starts this week, with Arsenal at home to Porto, Barcelona at home to Napoli, Atletico play Inter and Dortmund host PSV.

More importantly Coventry City travel to Wolves in the FA Cup Quarter Finals. I knew you would be interested.

This week’s quote is from Liverpool Manager Bob Paisley "Mind you, I've been here during the bad times too - one year we came second."

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