Football Matters with Cyclops

Seniors

Not such a good weekend for the Panthers. They played just three games all against MA Olympic, winning one drawing one and losing the other. The Premiers and Reserves were at home on Sunday with the Premiers losing 2-3 and the Reserves drawing 1-1. The Colts were away on Friday and won 4-0. The Division 1 and Division 2 teams both had byes.

This week, there are four teams are in action. On Friday, the Division 1 and Division 2 teams are at home to Warriors kicking off at 8.30 and 6.30 and on Sunday, the Premiers and Reserves are away to Saints Eagles Souths at 5.00 and 3.00.

Ladies Day tickets went on sale last Friday and sold out within ours. Didn’t get a ticket? You can still join in on all the fun at International Park on Saturday 22^nd August! 

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Premiers – Ayr Anzac Club

A big clash against MA Olympic lived up to expectations, with both sides producing a hard-fought contest throughout. Burdekin could not have asked for a better start, opening the scoring from a well-worked corner to take an early 1–0 lead. However Olympic responded in kind, equalising from a corner of their own shortly after. From there, the match settled into an entertaining battle, with the Panthers controlling much of the possession and territory. Despite dominating large periods of the game and creating the better opportunities, Burdekin could not find the finishing touch to regain the lead.

With 15 minutes remaining, MAO took advantage of one of their chances to edge ahead 2–1, putting the pressure back on the Panthers. The response was immediate, with Sean Young finding the equaliser eight minutes from time to bring the scores level once again and set up a tense finish. Unfortunately, the match took a heartbreaking turn in the closing stages when Olympic were awarded a controversial penalty with just three minutes remaining. They converted from the spot to reclaim the lead, and despite Burdekin throwing everything forward in the dying moments, they were unable to find another equaliser, falling 3–2 in a match where the performance deserved more than the result.

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Reserves – Burdekin Tyre Service

The Reserves game against Olympic was always going to be a tight affair. Some really good passages of football exposing the MAO backline eventually led to a great team goal finished off by Charlie Predebon. The Panthers held a 1-0 advantage to halftime. Unfortunately, five minutes into the second half Ryan Taylor was shown his second yellow card and the result, Burdekin played forty minutes a man down. The Panthers defended stoutly, but Olympic were able to utilise the one-man advantage and snare an equaliser. Burdekin pressed for a winner, coming agonisingly close but had to settle for the draw. 

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Colts – Astute Finance

On Friday night the Colts took on MA Olympic. The game started slowly with both teams getting chances before the Panthers took a 2-0 lead into half time, with goals from Ryley Siandri and Jhett Jones. The Colts were much better in the second half with Siandri grabbing another goal and then MAO scored an own goal! The match finished with a 4-0 win and the Colts were happy with their strong performance. The competition has stopped for the next two weeks due to school holidays. 

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Masters

The Masters were again down in numbers and in cool conditions featured a pre-play of the Australia v Paraguay World Cup match. The game ended with Paraguay winning 9-6 after leading 5-3 at half time. Best players on the night were Krishna Singh and Sean Power. The Magic Moments were few and far between! Masters play every Monday night. All players are welcome, male, and female, useful and hopeless, halt and lame. Be there, International Park for 6.30 Kick Off.  

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Juniors

Junior soccer wrapped up this term with a busy weekend. On Saturday, teams from Townsville travelled down for a good day of matches, with players across all age groups enjoying strong competition and plenty of opportunities to highlight their developing skills. On Sunday, a handful of Burdekin teams headed to the Friendlies Bowen Blast Carnival, where they enjoyed a fun-filled day against teams from across the Whitsunday/Mackay region. The carnival provided a great experience for players, with plenty of smiles, teamwork, and sportsmanship on display throughout the day.

With the school holidays now underway, junior soccer will take a short break before returning refreshed and ready for the next term. We thank all players, coaches, managers, volunteers and families for their support and commitment so far this year, and we look forward to seeing everyone back on the field soon.

The Under 15 Panthers went down 4–3 to MA Olympic in a thrilling contest. Olympic opened the scoring before Annan Power levelled the score with a well taken free kick. Emmanuel Mio then scored a superb goal to give the Panthers the lead, but Olympic hit back just before half time. MAO added two more goals in the second half before Emmanuel Mio scored another absolute cracker in the 75th minute to keep the Panthers in the game. A highlight of the match was Panther’s goalkeeper Connor Griggs saving a penalty in the second half.Despite the loss, the Panthers showed great determination and will be looking to come back stronger after the holiday break.

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International

In the World Cup the Socceroos have got off to a great start, beating Turkey 2-0 in their first Group D game in Vancouver, but lost their next match 0-2 against the USA in Seattle. Their final group game against Paraguay resulted in a a 0-0 but that was enough to get the Socceroos through to the Round of 32 where they meet Egypt next Saturday.

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Quote the of the Week is from ex Coventry manager Gordon Strachan “Our midfield has about one goal between them in the last year. Did you see Prutton’s effort at Everton last week? We needed air traffic clearance.”

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