AN unbeaten season in 2019-20 wasn't able to be crowned the way Darley would have liked, but there was no denying the Lions in Saturday's BCA First's grand final with a super-professional five-wicket win over Golden Point.
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It was the quintessential team-first effort from the Lions who all chipped in when it mattered, as firstly they restricted Golden Point's strong batting line up to just 165, before batting in partnerships throughout to secure the five wicket win.
There were a few nerves in the middling chase when the Lions dropped to 4-99 with those in attendance getting the sense that Golden Point was just one wicket away from being back in the contest.
But Hasitha Wickramasinghe and Mitch Ward steadied the ship with a patient fifth-wicket stand, Wickramasinghe top scoring with 34, but importantly chewing up a lot of balls which slowly tired the Point bowlers.
Ward was a rock, his unbeaten 22 coming off 52 balls, but he left it to Madushanka Ekanayaka to finish off the job with a towering six in the 42nd over, sending the Darley bench into raptures.
For Darley coach Brian Wheelahan, tears in his eyes when he spoke to the whole club in the rooms after the game, it was a relief.
"It's a huge weight off our shoulders. Yes, we were crowned champions last year, but not in the circumstances we wanted it to be," he said.
"We've got such enormous respect for Golden Point, they are a class outfit, but today was about making a statement that we did deserve it.
"We feel like we've got a bit of a monkey off our back and we're going to enjoy this one."
Wheelahan admitted to a few nerves in the chase, particularly when the fourth wicket fell with 67 still needed
"I'm notoriously very nervous, there was a bit of pacing going up and down," he said.
"We speak about everyone making handy contributions, we don't need miracles and things like that.
"The pressure was on today and the blokes stood up when needed. We found a way with both ball in hand and with the bat."
Darley skipper Brad Barnes said it was a strong effort in all facets of the game.
"I thought we bowled really well to restrict them to 165 in the end," he said. "The last few weeks they've been scoring over 200, so we were happy with that.
"But then the start we got with the bat, Tails (Anthony Taylor) and Danza (Hyatt) got us off to a flyer, we were able to consolidate from there.
"It shows the hard work we've put in over the past two years, that we are a great cricket side and we deserve it.
"All year we knew we deserved the title last year, but this is more special being able to play for it and win it."
Golden Point needed a strong start in order to pressure Darley, but unfortunately had lost both openers before 10 runs was on the board.
From there, it was always catch up, despite a lone hand from Mandula De Zoysa who batted with poise to top score on the day with 73, helping the Pointees to post a competitive 165.
But with the team dismissed with three overs remaining, it looked as if Golden Point had left at least 20 runs in the deck, 20 runs that may have placed a bit more pressure on the Darley chase.
A blistering start from Darley openers Danza Hyatt and Anthony Taylor had the Lions at 0-55 from the first nine overs, and although the pair were dismissed in quick succession, and skipper Brad Barnes and allrounder Rahmatullah Khwaja came and went, the Lions always looked in command in the chase.
Golden Point captain Andrew Warrick said he was proud of his side, which came from eighth midway through the season to qualify for the final game of the season.
"Darley certainly played better across the board on the day," Warrick said.
"There were a number of aspects we could have improved on today, but that sometimes happens in one-day cricket.
"It just wasn't our day, but I'm certainly proud of the team, the resilience we showed to get this far. At Christmas we had no chance of making finals, so to get this far is an achievement.
"For us to put a whole season together at this level of the game is an outstanding effort."
SCOREBOARD
BCA FIRSTS GRAND FINAL
GOLDEN POINT INNINGS
J Pegg c D Hoey b M Ekanayaka 7
S Ogilvie c Dr Locke b B Longhurst 1
J White c D Hoey b B Longhurst 24
M De Zoysa c & b RN Khwaja 73
S Tung c A Taylor b DP Hyatt 1
J Lewis run out (H Wickramasinghe, RN Khwaja) 18
D White c H Wickramasinghe b RN Khwaja 15
A Warrick c D Hoey b M Ekanayaka 10
D McDonald c DP Hyatt b RN Khwaja 3
T McKenize not out 5
P Appleton C B Longhurst b H Wickramasinghe 3
FOW: 4 (S Ogilvie) 9 (J Pegg) 51 (J White) 56 (S Tung) 85 (J Lewis) 136 (D White) 143 (M De Zoysa) 149 (D McDonald) 159 (A Warrick) 165 (P Appleton)
Extras (nb 0, w 1, b 2, lb 2) 5
TOTAL: 165 (47 overs)
DARLEY BOWLING
M Ekanayaka 10-2-2-26
B Longhurst 10-0-2-41
R Khwaja 10-1-3-40
D Hyatt 6-1-1-18
H Wickramasinghe 4-0-1-12
M Ward 7-2-0-24
DARLEY INNINGS
A Taylor c T McKenzie b D White 27
DP Hyatt lbw b S Ogilvie 26
B Barnes c A Warrick b D White 22
H Wickramasinghe lbw b M De Zoysa 34
RN Khwaja c T McKenzie b S Ogilvie 3
MJ Ward not out 22
M Ekanayaka not out 24
Extras (nb 0, w 4, b 0, lb 4) 8
Total 5-166 (Overs 41.5)
FOW: 56 (A Taylor) 56 (DP Hyatt) 87 (B Barnes) 99 (RN Khwaja) 131 (H Wickramasinghe)
GOLDEN POINT BOWLING
A Warrick 8.5-0-0-49
D McDonald 8-0-0-37
S Ogilvie 8-3-2-25
D White 5-0-2-17
P Appleton 10-4-0-25
M De Zoysa 2-0-1-9