TO use a footy analogy, Strathdale-Maristians entered the last quarter of the Bendigo District Cricket Association grand final five goals down, kicking against the breeze and two rotations down... maybe three.
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Strathfieldsaye had its foot on the throat of the Suns and finally, looked headed for a long-overdue premiership on Sunday.
For all the fighting spirit the Suns are renowned for, it appeared Strathdale may have dug itself a hole too big to climb out of this time when Jacob DeAraugo joined his brother, Ben, at the crease with 11-and-a-bit overs remaining, 68 runs still needed and just two wickets in hand.
But as any Suns’ supporter will attest to, while Ben DeAraugo is at the crease, there’s always hope, and gradually, the brothers poked away at the deficit.
Yet entering time-on of the final quarter when the Suns required 50 off the last five overs, it still seemed a task beyond Strathdale.
But what unfolded over the final five overs will go down in BDCA folklore as the DeAraugo brothers - fuelled by the emotion of their pop Horrie passing away earlier in the week - produced a grand final finish for the ages.
The 50 needed off five overs became 42 off four; 30 off three; 21 off two; and finally, 10 off one.
All of a sudden a premiership that looked Strathfieldsaye’s for much of the day was slipping from the Jets' grasp.
And within three balls of the final over bowled by Jets’ captain Ben Devanny, the Suns had pulled off mission impossible on the back of a six from Jacob DeAraugo, followed by a single, and Ben then whacking the ball through mid-wicket to the boundary for the match-winning runs.
Fittingly, it was Ben who scored the winning runs, for without him, the Suns would have spent the next couple of days drowning their sorrows, rather than enjoying the sweet taste of winner’s juice for the fourth time in the past five years.
Remarkably, Ben DeAraugo has won the Taylor-Walsh medal in all four of the Suns’ flags during their golden era of success.
In two of those wins, he has come in with the Suns’ innings at the crossroads.
On Sunday he strode to the crease at 4-40 and peeled off an unbeaten 78.
In 2011 he came in at 5-42 on day one against Bendigo United and smacked an unbeaten 86.
He also plundered 72 against the Redbacks in 2012 in an innings were he came in at 5-132 on the back of a collapse in which the Suns had just lost 5-40.
As for Jacob DeAraugo, who finished unbeaten on 28, Sunday’s win is perhaps cricketing karma for five years ago when the Suns were beaten by Bendigo United in the 2010 grand final.
Jacob and Ryan Haythorpe put on 71 for the last wicket, only for the Suns to fall one-run short in up until Sunday was a BDCA grand final I thought would never be topped.
Jacob was on strike to Miggy Podosky for the final ball of that grand final, needing four to win, and three to tie, which would have been enough to capture the flag.
Jacob scored two off the final ball, but five years on, his towering six off Devanny off the first ball of Sunday’s last over put one hand on the cup for the Suns.
As the saying goes - what goes around comes around.
