After an 0-2 start, Echuca 1 has now levelled the ledger after round five marked the completion of a full cycle of fixtures in the Campaspe Tennis Association.
Echuca 1 and 3 faced off this week, with the current champion proving itself number one on this occasion.
The match-up started tightly with Nick Bush snatching the opening singles for 1, 7-6 over Ryan More.
After the other singles and two of the three men’s doubles also went Echuca 1’s way, it looked to have a stranglehold on the result.
The two wins for Echuca 1 each came 6-4, with Todd Charnas the constant in both victorious pairings.
Already on the back foot, the women’s doubles completely shut Echuca 3 out of the contest, 1 taking all four by a combined 32 games to 13.
The biggest win for Echuca 1 came courtesy of Roxanne Dicketts and Celine Bush, who prevailed 8-2 in their set.
Echuca 3 added some respectability to the scoreline in the mixed doubles, grabbing the last three sets of the match to result in a 9-80 to 4-66 final scoreline.
Rochester vs LBU
In the other fixture, Rochester firmly placed itself as the team to beat.
Rochester has now picked up wins over each of the other four sides in the competition, completing the quartet with a dominant performance over Lockington-Bamawm United 12-96 to 1-42.
LBU struggled to make an impact on the scoreboard on its home courts, but the singles were more closely fought than some of the later sets.
Rochester’s Jacob Grieves and Tobie Woodfine picked up wins, 6-3 and 6-4 respectively, with Harrison Condliffe and Grant Humbert fighting hard for LBU.
The men’s doubles extended Rochy’s margin, with all three sets going its way, two of the matches finishing 8-0.
Todd Woodfine was part of both of the shutout victories, pairing with Jaycob Dingwall in one and Tobie Woodfine in the other.
LBU got on the board in the women’s doubles block, Leanne Alberni and Lois Toohey prevailing 8-4 to give the home side some hope.
The rare bright spot was quickly shut down by Rochester, who took the other three women’s doubles to put the result beyond doubt.
The visitor piled on the hurt across the mixed doubles, taking all four for a margin-boosting 12-sets-to-one final score.
Each side has now had a bye and faced each other side once, giving a clearer picture of where sides might stand.
There is an obvious delineation between the sides at this stage, with no two teams sharing the same record.
Rochester (4-0) are the unbeaten leaders, ahead of Echuca 2 (3-1), 1 (2-2) and 3 (1-3) with LBU (0-4) yet to pick up a win.
Next weekend’s fixtures see Rochester host Echuca 3, while LBU will visit Echuca 2.