STRATHDALE-Maristians yesterday ended their 16-year Bendigo District Cricket Association first XI premiership drought in emphatic style with a 94-run win over Bendigo United in the grand final.The Suns successfully defended their score of 9-241 as they bowled the Redbacks out for 147 at Harry Trott Oval.The win was the Suns’ first premiership since 1995 – also won against Bendigo United – and came after the side had been beaten in the past two grand finals.However, at tea on Saturday, the Suns looked anything but winners as their top-order collapsed, before a Ben DeAraugo-inspired fightback put the side on the path to a memorable victory.Unlike their grand final defeats of the past two years, to Bendigo United and Golden Square, the Suns won the toss on Saturday and batted first.However, as has become all too familiar for the Suns late in the season, it was left up to the last five batsmen to dig the side out of trouble.The early woes started from the first over of the game when Marcus Smalley had Tyson Findlay (0) caught at second-slip by Heath Behrens with the score on 1.Findlay was the first of five batsmen to be dismissed before the Suns had reached 50.Also falling inside the first 106 minutes of play were fellow opener Jonathan Davidson (9), Craig Howard (2), Dom Taylor (20) and captain Linton Jacobs (10).Taylor, in particular, would have been disappointed with his dismissal.After coming in following the wicket of Findlay, Taylor battled valiantly for 96 minutes and 75 balls against the new ball.He had looked comfortable in working his way to 20 before he tried to flick a Nick Crawford delivery to mid-wicket, only to get a leading edge and spoon a simple catch to Andrew Powell at point in the 28th over to leave the score 4-42.And when the in-form Jacobs was bowled by Miggy Podosky in the following over, the Suns were 5-42, sparking some suggestion around the ground the game could be over on the first day.Jacobs had started his innings on a positive note when on the second ball he faced he sweetly cover-drove Smalley for a boundary, which was the first four of the day in what was the 23rd over.The Redbacks shared their first five wickets between Podosky (two), Smalley (two) and off-spinner Crawford (one).At 5-42 and with the game in danger of slipping away from the Suns, all-rounder Ben DeAraugo strode to the wicket and over the following 199 minutes produced a grand final innings under pressure that was simply sensational.Firstly, DeAraugo shared in a 26-run stand for the sixth wicket with veteran Ben Smith.While scoring had been difficult for the Suns early – they scored just 23 runs off the first 20 overs – Smith got the run-rate ticking over in his innings.He got off the mark with a six off a Crawford full-toss, but was lucky to survive the following delivery when Ricky Mannix dropped a sharp chance at short-leg.Despite the Suns being in a dire situation, Smith stuck to his normal attacking style of batting, with his first six scoring shots including his six and two boundaries.However, with the score on 68, Smith received a short ball from Leigh McDermott that was there to pull, but he bottom-edged the delivery and was bowled for 21 just 10 minutes before the tea break.From 6-68, DeAraugo and new batsman Andrew Chalkley safely negotiated the last 10 minutes before the break as the Suns went to tea at 6-72 off 42 overs.At that stage DeAraugo was unbeaten on eight off 38 deliveries.When play resumed after the break, DeAraugo and Chalkley worked hard to turn the momentum in favour of the Suns.The pair rotated the strike well and Chalkley began to grow in confidence after hitting consecutive boundaries off Crawford through the off-side during the 50th over.The Suns passed 100 in the 53rd over, and when Chalkley later hit Chris Pinniger (0-15 off 5 overs) for six over mid-off, he and DeAraugo had shared in a 50-run partnership.In the 67th over the pair took the Suns past the 150-mark with their controlled batting.However, the match-changing partnership ended soon after when Chalkley skied a pull shot off McDermott over the head of wicket-keeper Wayne Fidler.Fidler ran back with the flight of the ball and took the catch, ending Chalkley’s innings on 48 and leaving the Suns 7-151.Chalkley – who put on a vital 83 in 161 balls for the seventh wicket with DeAraugo – batted for 94 minutes and faced 84 balls, hitting five boundaries and one six as he continued on from his fine semi-final performance against Bendigo the previous week when he made a brisk 51.After his heroic 54 in last year’s epic grand final, Ryan Haythorpe couldn’t produce a repeat performance.He made 14 in a 24-run partnership with DeAraugo before he was stumped by Fidler off Crawford.However, Haythorpe, who constantly played and missed at McDermott outside off-stump early in his innings, had just begun to look ominous after hitting Crawford for a six and four in consecutive deliveries earlier in the over.When Haythorpe was dismissed there were still 10 overs remaining, and they proved to be fruitful for the Suns as No.10 Braden Hocking (19) and No.11 Jacob DeAraugo (8 n.o.) both provided fine support to DeAraugo.The Suns scored 65 runs off the last 10 overs, which included 15 off the final over of the innings, bowled by Podosky.DeAraugo finished unbeaten on 86 – his highest first XI score for the Suns – in which he faced 156 balls and hit nine boundaries.While his powerful hitting was a feature of his innings, DeAraugo’s knock also included 27 singles.While DeAraugo was at the crease the Suns scored 199 of their 241 runs.With his unbeaten 86, DeAraugo has ended the season with 251 runs and the Suns’ best batting average of 62.8. Not bad for a player who also opens the bowling.The Redbacks shared their wickets between four bowlers – Smalley (2-42 off 19 overs), Podosky (2-54 off 17), Crawford (2-66 off 25) and McDermott (2-61 off 19).Crawford’s 25 overs included an opening spell of 19 overs from the clubrooms end after he was brought into the attack inside the first hour.In a testament to their disciplined bowling, the Redbacks conceded just four extras – one wide and three leg byes.The Redbacks yesterday set out needing to score at a run-rate of 2.84 to win what would be their sixth premiership since 2000.However, inside the first hour the Redbacks were on the backfoot, just like the Suns had been.Clint Prime, Heath Behrens and Andrew Powell have been the Redbacks’ three most prolific run-scorers this season with a combined average of 51.3.Yet by the 16th over all three were back in the pavilion before the score had reached 30.Prime was the first to go when he hit a cut-shot straight to Chalkley at point off Ben DeAraugo in the seventh over and was dismissed for 2, leaving the score 1-5.That then brought Behrens to the crease, who a year earlier had made a match-winning 97 in the epic grand final against the Suns.But the Suns ensured Behrens wouldn’t prove a stumbling block again as arguably the BDCA’s best batsman had a rare grand final failure.In the eighth over Behrens got off the mark with a lofted boundary over mid-wicket off Hocking.It was an ominous-looking shot, but the next ball Hocking (1-15) got his delivery to nip back and Behrens played it on to his off-stump and was bowled for 4.And seven overs later Powell – who had won this year’s BDCA batting average award – was also dismissed cheaply.Powell had looked good during his innings, particularly when he pulled Ben DeAraugo for four and then cover-drove Hocking for 3, but when he was on 8 he tried to work a DeAraugo delivery to the onside, but was struck on the pad and adjudged lbw.With Powell out for what was his first single-figure score of the season, the Redbacks had crashed to 3-25 in the 15th over.From the precarious position, opener Wayne Fidler and Crawford – who was a member of the Suns’ 1995 premiership team – set about rebuilding the faltering Redbacks innings.Crawford survived a confident lbw shout off DeAraugo first ball, but then played positive cricket.The veteran worked his way to 17 before he nicked a Haythorpe delivery outside off stump to wicket-keeper Jacobs.However, Jacobs spilled the straight-forward chance, but had he taken it the Redbacks would have been 4-46 in the 24th over.Having been given a let-off, Crawford added 15 more runs before his innings was ended 17 minutes before tea on 32 when he was caught by Taylor at mid-wicket off the bowling of Jacob DeAraugo (1-11).Crawford’s 32 was the Redbacks’ top-score and came off 48 balls.It was a decisive breakthrough for the Suns as Crawford and Fidler had put on 44 in 109 balls for the fourth wicket.With four wickets having fallen around him, Fidler continued to battle hard for the Redbacks.It took Fidler 69 balls to reach double-figures, and 114 balls before he hit his first boundary, but he was still in at tea, along with the evergreen Chris Pinniger, with the Redbacks’ score at the break 4-74 off 38 overs.That left Bendigo United with an equation of 168 runs to win after tea off 47 overs.Fidler’s grinding knock finally came to an end in the 43rd over when he was the fifth wicket to fall after being adjudged lbw to Craig Howard with the score on 78.In his final first XI innings, Pinniger was dismissed five overs later for 7 when he was superbly caught by fellow veteran Ben Smith at short-leg off Howard.That left the Redbacks 6-78 and the game seemingly hinging on the bat of the dangerous Ricky Mannix.Mannix is renowned for his power hitting and ability to score quickly, but the Suns removed him before he was able to cause any major damage.Mannix made 16 off 45 balls, which included three boundaries, before he was well caught by Jacob DeAraugo down the ground in the 58th over with the score on 107.After Mannix was the seventh wicket to fall, the Redbacks added 40 more runs before, fittingly, Ben DeAraugo wrapped the game up when he bowled Harry Donegan on the fourth ball of the 66th over, sending the Suns’ players into jubilant celebrations mid-pitch, while Donegan slumped to his knees.The youngest player in the game at 17, Donegan made 25 off 44 balls, which included two sixes off Taylor over mid-off.Miggy Podosky finished 1 not out for the Redbacks as he again scored his first run for the season in the grand final.Following his unbeaten 86 the previous day, DeAraugo finished with 3-30 off 12 overs.The spinning duo of Taylor (2-30 off 17 overs) and Howard (3-40 off 15), who bowled in tandem between the 37th and 63rd overs, combined for five wickets.