sport
FNQ Amateur League Finals Push Heats Up as Southside Strikers Hold Top Spot
With just four rounds left in the regular season, the Cairns and District Amateur Soccer League is shaping up for a wide-open finals race.
How we reported this
The Southside Strikers are clinging to top spot on the FNQ Amateur League ladder with four rounds remaining, but less than three points separate the top four sides as finals approach.
Sunday's 2-1 win over Edge Hill United at Barlow Park kept the Strikers two points clear of second-placed Mareeba United, who fell 3-1 to Smithfield despite dominating possession. The tightness at the top has several clubs betting on a late-season shake-up ahead of the August finals series.
The league's decision to expand the finals from four to six teams this season, confirmed by Football Far North Queensland in March, means clubs finishing fifth and sixth will now contest an elimination final for the first time. That change has kept half the 12-team competition in realistic finals contention late into the winter schedule.
Contenders Jostle for Position
Port Douglas FC, sitting fourth with 32 points from 14 matches, have the best defensive record in the competition, they have conceded only 18 goals all season. Their upcoming run includes a road trip to Cairns this Saturday to face Trinity Beach, a side that has lost only twice at home. For Port Douglas, the remaining stretch is about proving they can travel.
Trinity Beach sits fifth on 30 points, ahead of seventh-placed North Cairns by just two points. North Cairns have won three of their past four matches, a streak that began after they lost starting goalkeeper Daniel Tran to a hamstring injury. Coach Mark Chen said last week the side had adjusted its defensive shape to protect stand-in keeper Liam O'Sullivan.
The expansion of the finals format, combined with the compressed fixture caused by two wet-weather cancellations in June, creates a scenario where goal difference could decide seeding. As of Monday morning, only eight goals separate the third-placed Smithfield FC from eighth-placed Cairns City.
What Happens Next
Round 15 kicks off this Friday night with Edge Hill United hosting North Cairns at Crater Lakes Oval. The league's finals series is scheduled to begin on the weekend of August 8-9. The grand final will be played at Barlow Park on August 23, as confirmed in the Football Far North Queensland season draw released in February.
For the six clubs still in the race, the next 28 days will determine whether a season's work extends into September, or ends in the cold of a Cairns winter evening.