Armadale win Cup

CAIRNS FC’s opponents in the soccer FFA Cup, Armadale, lifted their first piece of major silverware on Saturday after taking out the West Australian Belt Up Cup final. Chris Jackson hit a brace and showed why he sits second on the NPL WA goal scorers’ list after the 2-0 win over Gwelup Croatia. In addition to the two goals, Jackson scored the Stan Lazaridis Medal as man of the match, but said the win had been a great team effort. “We grafted for each other and fought until the end and the two shots we had, we managed to take,” Jackson said. “I was fortunate to get both, but the service I got today was great, and once we had that two-goal cushion we soaked up their pressure and hit them on the break.” Armadale coach John O’Reilly said he was proud of his players. “I can’t single out one person – it was a fantastic team performance,” he said. Armadale will take on Cairns in the FFA Cup round of 32 on August 1.

Bulldogs in hunt

CENTRALS Trinity Beach will look to keep pace with the AFL Cairns top four tonight as they travel to Watsons Oval to face North Cairns. The Bulldogs are a game and percentage behind Manunda in fourth position on the ladder and will need to go on a winning run from here to push their finals hopes. The Bulldogs were comfortable winners in their first meeting earlier this year and will be confident of making it two against the Tigers from 8pm today. The other two Round 15 fixtures will be played at the regular time of 3pm on Saturday.