Local
There were no games last week as it was the May Day weekend. This weekend all four Burdekin teams are in action. On Friday night the Division One Funkies are at home to Estates and on Saturday the Premiers, Under 23s and Women are all at home to MA Olympic.
Panthers Striker Jay Leckenby has been nominated as Player of the Month for April. Teammate Mattew Kolb was also nominated. Congratulations to both players.
Juniors
The Juniors also had the weekend off because of the Public Holiday long weekend and the Football Queensland Academy in Mackay. Matches for the Under 13 and Under 14/15s will resume this weekend plus the normal Saturday mornings at Honeycombe Park.
Masters
Monday Night Masters also had Monday night off with hostilities resuming next Monday.
National
Nothing new on the Socceroos front except that the match against Bangladesh has now been finalised. They have two games coming up in the Asian World Cup qualifiers away to Bangladesh on the 6th of June and then at home to Palestine on the 11th of June.
The Matildas have two matches against China in the lead-up to the Paris Olympics. The first is at home on 31st May in Adelaide and the second, in Sydney on 3rd June. In the Paris Olympics, in their group Games, The Matildas play Germany on 26th July followed by Zambia on the 29th of July and the USA on the 1st of August.
In the A-League, Central Coast beat Adelaide 2-0 to finish the season on top of the ladder. Wellington finished in second place with Melbourne Victory, Sydney FC, Macarthur and Melbourne City making up the top six for the playoffs. The two Elimination Finals were played over the weekend with Sydney FC defeating Macarthur 4-0 and Melbourne Victory beating Melbourne City on penalties after a 1-1- draw.
The semi-finals, a two-leg basis, start this Saturday with Victory playing Wellington and Central Coast playing Sydney FC. The reverse leg will be played next Saturday.
Central Coast won the AFC Cup when they defeated Lebanon’s Al Ahed on Sunday night. The Mariners clinched the title with a hard-fought 1-0 win thanks to a crucial goal by substitute Alou Kuol in the 84th minute.
In the A League Women’s Grand Final Sydney FC beat Melbourne City 1-0 to take out the Championship for the second year in a row and their record fifth Championship.
This week’s quote is from Newcastle and England star Alan Shearer "I've never wanted to leave. I'm here for the rest of my life, and hopefully after that as well."
Jay Leckenby
