Willowburn go the distance to claim victory in grand final

FOOTBALL: By his admission, Beau Partridge didn’t have “the best game” in Sunday’s TFL Premier Men’s grand final. The Willowburn skipper was there for his team when it mattered, though.

Willowburn’s Daniel Shum (left) closes in on Stanthorpe’s Ace McDonald.

Partridge’s looping shot off from an Eddie Balarezo cross in the last minute of extra time found the back of the net to send the game to penalties.

Partridge also scored in the penalty shootout to help seal his side’s 2-2 (4-1 on penalties) win over Stanthorpe United.

“It probably wasn’t my best game out there, and I felt like I let their second (goal) go in,” he said.

“I had to get stuck in and help get the boys the win, so I put everything on the line.

“Luckily it (the cross) just fell right for me and my flick on went in to take it to penalties.”

After an end-to-end start to the game, the best chance of the first half fell to Stanthorpe midfielder Bradley Thompson.

Taking possession deep inside Willowburn’s penalty area, Thompson waited patiently for an opportunity to shoot before skying his shot over the bar.

The miss proved costly with Willowburn taking the lead shortly after halftime.

Ben Barrowclift’s shot from close range took a deflection which left Stanthorpe Joshua Crestani stranded in the 48th minute of the game.

Most of the second half belonged to Stanthorpe, though, and Thompson made amends for his miss in the first half.

After some excellent build-up play Thompson (pictured) took possession before cutting inside his defender and hitting a well-placed shot from close range.

Both sides had chances to finish the game in normal time, but the scores remained locked 1-1 at the end of 90 minutes.

The 30 minutes of extra time were slightly more subdued until the game sprang to life with two minutes left.

Stanthorpe thought they had won the final through Dylan Politch’s goal in the 118th minute before Partridge’s heroics two minutes later.

Originally published as Willowburn go the distance to claim victory in grand final