HEAVENLY TITLE WIN
Saints clip Magpies wings to claim football premiership
FOOTBALL: It did not have look pretty at times, but a win is a win and St Albans can proudly call themselves TFL champions.
After narrowly missing out on finals football in their 2020 return to Premier division, Saints went all the way this year, beating Willowburn in a thrilling final.
The 2-1 grand final win capped off a massive year for the club which claimed the President’s Cup and minor premiership.
In the Premier women’s decider, Willowburn once again proved why they are the standard by which all other clubs are measured.
Highfields never made it easy for the Magpies though, fighting back from two goals down before falling 4-2.
FOOTBALL: Using the pain of missing finals football last season, St Alban’s dominated the 2021 TFL Premier Men’s competition.
Saints capped off their year in style on Sunday beating rivals Willowburn 2-1 in the grand final, and they have two brothers to thank for it.
Striker Riley Lobwein claimed man-of-the-match honours, but his brother Braydan could’ve easily earned the honour after a staunch performance in goal.
“It’s absolutely incredible,” Riley said.
“Winning my first premiership and being able to do it with him (Braydan), it’s amazing.
“We (St Albans) are basically a whole team of brothers.
“Last year we tried but didn’t make finals, this year we used that feeling, dug deep and put in the hard work week in, week out.
“Getting this result is awesome.”
Defending premiers Willowburn started the game strongly but went behind inside 20 minutes.
Finding space on the edge of the 18-yard box, Mannyx Smith dribbled toward the goal line before calmly slotting his shot past keeper Mat Eilers.
Buoyed by the goal, St Albans pushed forward in search of another but only took a 1-0 lead into the break.
Ada Harerimana squared the ledger for Willowburn shortly after the restart, capping off a crisp move through the midfield with a well struck shot.
Both teams had clear chances to win the game inside the 90 minutes, but extra time was needed to decide the result.
Daniel Weber had St Albans on the front foot almost immediately after the restart with a goal just three minutes into extra time.
Willowburn went close to scoring an equaliser on several occasions but were denied by a resilient St Albans and brilliant keeping from Braydan Lobwein.
“It’s surreal. I can’t believe I got to it to be honest,” Braydan said of his one handed save that kept his side in front deep in extra time.
“I’m really glad I made that save, it kept us in front, and then we got the win.
“It’s amazing, and I’m proud of all the boys efforts.”
MAGPIES LEAVE IT LATE
Powerhouse Willowburn looked well on track to secure a dominate win in the Premier Women’s competition, but Highfields had other ideas.
The Magpies were flying high early with Courtney Morris scoring two of her three goals inside the first eight minutes.
Highfields fought back with Brooke Baldwin (36th minute) and Marlina-Rae Pern (54th) scoring next.
Willowburn’s experience and determination showed through as the game edged closer to full-time.
Morris secured her hattrick with a goal in the 81st minute and Hayley Gray scored two minutes later to seal a 4-2 win for Willowburn.