DVCA 2020-21: Banyule claims remarkable win over Riverside

With its best player grounded by a serious injury and a meagre total on the board, few would have given Banyule a chance of victory on Saturday.

Nick Murray (left) played a key role in Banyule’s win over Riverside. Picture: Andy Brownbill

Banyule overcame the loss of its best player to secure one of the most remarkable victories of the Diamond Valley Cricket Association season on Saturday.

Defending a meagre 96 at Beverley Road Reserve, the Bears rolled rival Barclay Shield finals contender Riverside for 88 to score an eight-run win against all the odds.

The euphoria of the triumph was tempered somewhat by a serious injury to star all-rounder Brent O’Connor Snr, who suffered a ruptured testicle while batting which forced him to retire hurt on nine.

O’Connor has enjoyed a fine season in the top grade, hitting 324 runs at 32.4 to go with 18 wickets at 10.39.

He hammered 457 runs and grabbed 20 wickets for the club in Money Shield last summer to help it earn promotion.

“He went in to surgery last night (Saturday) and everything went well,” Banyule captain-coach Henry Tyler said.

“But it’s really hard to say at this stage if we’ll see him again, but I’d imagine it will be a few weeks before he’s right to go.”

Despite O’Connor’s absence, the Bears miraculously protected what appeared a losing total.

Tyler said Callum Asbury, who was playing his second First XI match, provided the match-winning moment by completing a direct hit from deep point to run out Riverside star Chris Salm for 16.

Asbury’s brilliance left the visitors 7-76 before they were bowled out in 36.4 overs.

Lucas Willoughby (2-5), Alex Lewis (2-15), Jeff Wilson (2-16), Nick Murray (2-34) and Michael Hannan (1-14) were the wicket-takers on a memorable afternoon.

Michael Hannan bends his back for Banyule. Picture: Andy Brownbill

Tyler said it was an “amazing feeling” to complete the job.

“To be honest, our backs were against the wall, but we do think we’ve got a pretty strong bowling line-up and it was just one of those days where strange things happened and anything was possible,” he said.

“Maybe not confident (of defending 96) … but sometimes something unusual can happen.

“It was just one of those days where everybody just seized that little moment and we won more of those little moments than they did.

“We lost eight overs out of (O’Connor), so we went to two part-timers right at the death.

“I used all my four bowlers early just to try and keep us in the game.

“Just the continuous ability to take that wicket and stay in the game really helped us.”

Earlier, Murray (22) and Wilson (21 not out) were the only batsmen to post double figures.

The win left the Bears in fourth spot on the ladder with a 6-5 record.

Five clubs – Riverside, Banyule, Diamond Creek, Heidelberg and Macleod – are separated by just one game on a congested table.

The Bears will face Plenty (ninth), North Eltham Wanderers (first) and Diamond Creek (fifth) in the run home.

“You don’t really want to be relying on other teams’ results,” Tyler said.

“You want to control it as much as you can.

“We’ve got a couple of tough games coming up, so that was a good win to grab.”