Aspley failed to contain a blistering Banyo who easily disposed of the Devils 38-8 in a one sided affair in the Open 2 Northside fixture at Harry Kirby Park.
Banyo were on fire from the get go remaining in second spot on the ladder and quickly showed the large crowd that they were here to play football.
After six minutes on the clock though, the visitors opened the scoring in superb style after durable second rower Cameron Nowa barged his way over in a great solo effort to get the Devils on the board skittling the brittle Aspley defence.
Matai Coulsen missed the difficult sideline conversion, however the visitors were back in again three minutes later this time by hardworking forward Richard Tengdui who took a clever pass from halfback David Bronish and he went in under the posts for a great Banyo try.
The flimsy Aspley defence was making life too easy for Banyo as the Devils were making inroads up the middle and gaining some valuable meters to continually raid the Aspley line set after set. Props Luke Gordon and Henry Tugasive were solid as rocks. The pair played this game as if it was a do or die match and led from the front all afternoon.
For Aspley, fullback Josh Alkington was a shining light at the back. Every time he touched the ball, the Banyo defence were on their toes as his exhilarating speed, was proving a handful for the Devils.
The speed of the game was frantic courtesy of Banyo. Their rushing defence and sweeping attack was textbook and beautiful to watch.
But a win against the head in a scrum just off the halfway line saw Aspley Halfback Dylan Hughes throw a beautiful cut out pass to his winger Napoleon Su’a who raced down the sideline to score a great first try for the home side which was applauded by the local supporters.
With Barnes missing the conversion the home side needed that little shot of confidence to get back on track trailing 10-4.
But lady luck would prove to smile over the home side only briefly as a lack of concentration by the Aspley defence saw replacement player Warren Kerihi waltz in for the easiest of tries to nudge the visitors out to a 16-4 lead and taking both sides into the sheds at the break.
With the second half starting on a beautiful Brisbane afternoon, Aspley were defending early on with the resolution to be expected for a team coached by Aspley stalwart Billy Wihongi.
The home side had started to make a few dints of their own and it appeared a dressing down at halftime by Wihongi proved to be working, but as fate would have it, Banyo were in again this time by powerful running centre Ben Robinson who was devastating out wide for the devils.
With Coulsen again landing a cracking sideline conversion, Banyo had now skipped out to a commanding 22-4 lead.
But hold tight and buckle in folks, the next try was scintillating. A beautiful down town kick by Banyo’s halfback Bronish saw the bounce of the ball sit perfectly for winger Bayden Barrett who magnificently grabbed the ball and step inside two Aspley defenders to go in untouched and score probably one of the best tries this season.
With the Aspley side just hanging in there by the skin of their teeth, tireless performances by Kyle Miller and Stephen Coombes have to be given credit as they were Trojan like in both attack and defence on a losing side.
It was a hard day at the office for the Aspley side, as powerful centre Robinson went in for his double after obliterating the Devils defence to go in and score a fantastic try.
With Coulson showing the kicking skills of Darryl Halligan with another pinpoint sideline conversion, the visitors were in great stead to notch up a cricket score at 32-4.
Amazingly though, there was still life in the Aspley side yet and a few close attempts at scoring to get back into the match late on proved invaluable as replacement player Shaun Lloyd took not only 3 players over with him, but the sideline flag as well to go in and score in the corner.
But there was no disputing that this was Banyo’s day and again a precision downtown kick by Bronish found centre Ben Chilton who lobbed the ball up and regathered to go in and score the final try in what a highly entertaining game of rugby league with Banyo running out winners 38-8.
