THEY entered the semi-finals with high expectations, on the back of a big regular season, but Western NSW FC had their Football NSW National Premier Leagues 4 under 20s campaign cut short by Camden Tigers on Saturday.
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Western fell back 2-0 shortly after half-time in the game at Fraser Park but managed to get one goal back and reignite their grand final hopes but it was not their day.
Camden made their momentum of the first half count when a long throw-in led to the opening goal, and the Tigers held that advantage into the break.
It took the Tigers only five minutes to double the lead early in the second half but from that point on Western took control.
Kyle Cummings' goal got Western within striking distance after great lead up work by Cowra's Bevan Foxall but despite several other opportunities coming their way the Central West boys couldn't convert.
Western captain Tom Rooke said the team had looked up for the challenge until Camden found the opener.
"It was a bit disappointing not to come away with the win but it was a really good match," he said.
"We had a really good first 10 minutes of the match then we started to slacken off a bit. When they scored we dropped our heads and didn't play the way that we should have been.
"In the second half though I thought we dominated the match. Unfortunately we just didn't take the chances that came our way."
Rooke said the team can still feel upbeat about the season, where they came within a win of taking away the premiership, and it paints a bright future for Western football.
"It was great season. I had a good time and I'm sure the rest of the boys did too," he said.
"You can't take anything away from them after the effort they all put in through the year."
Western entered the semi-finals sitting second on the ladder thanks to an unbeaten run of five matches.
The team lost just two matches throughout the season