After going goalless through normal time and then extra-time, the Bathurst Cup under 15s final between Marconi Stallions and Western NSW FC was set for the dreaded penalty shootout.
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And at the end of every penalty shootout, there's normally one team left heartbroken and in this situation on Sunday afternoon at Proctor Park it was Western that felt the sting of defeat after Marconi's Ali Chamsin slotted home the winning penalty and a tense shootout.
Cue celebrations for the Marconi players, but despair for Western.
Regardless of the defeat, Western coach Scott Mutton said he was proud of his team's performance, considering the quality and reputation of their Marconi opponents.
"It was a great effort considering Marconi is an NPL1 club. It just shows how far the boys have come," he said.
The under 15s squad was made largely up of the players that featured in 2019 NSW NPL2 under 14s grand final, which resulted in a 4-2 defeat to Camden Tigers.
And while the team has now lost two finals in the past six months, is a good side for the Western side that they can be competitive even against the big Sydney sides.
Mutton said he was most impressed with how his squad played together as team.
"Just the style of football they played and that they play as a team," he said.
"It's just great to see how far they've developed, to see how well they can play against an NPL1 club."
Mutton is hopeful that the competition will continue to grow.
"The council is sitting on a goldmine out there with that facility and Sydney teams are chasing tournaments to play in," he said.
"I heard you couldn't get accommodation. There was that many people out there, it's getting bigger and bigger and there's an opportunity for Bathurst to have more football tournaments.
"Football has a high level of participants and if council keep the facility out there and keep developing it, the Bathurst Cup will continue to grow and grow each year.
"It's also a good level for the boys to play at."
Western had teams in all four age groups - 13s, 14s, 15s and 16s - with the 13s side the only other team that managed to progress from the group stage, eventually being defeated by Nepean FC in the quarter finals on penalties too.
Bathurst District Football also had two teams entered - in the 13s and 16s - but unfortunately neither side was unable to progress from the group stage.
Overall, it was a hugely successful weekend, with a record of 81 teams competing and thousands of spectators watching on at the Proctor Park and Police Paddock precinct on both Saturday and Sunday.
The annual pre-season tournament brought teams from all across NSW and the ACT to Bathurst, including clubs from Sydney, Albury, Wagga Wagga, Orange and Canberra.
Marconi Stallions won every single age and strangely enough, they won the 13s, 15s and 16s all on penalties against Blacktown Spartans, Western and Nepean respectively after nil-all draws.
The only final won in regular time was the under 14s, Marconi defeating Blacktown Spartans 2-1.
Bathurst will now host the girls equivalent - the Proctor Park Challenge - at the same venues this coming Saturday and Sunday.