The Shepparton District Tennis Association completed its round 13 games on Saturday as finals edged ever closer.
The pennant had no shocks to discover as the two firmly entrenched top sides got their respective jobs done, though one had to work much harder than the other.
Shepparton North looked to be in cruise control against unfancied Central Park as Dean Pritchett took the fixture by the scruff of its neck early.
Both Pritchetts, Dean and Elliot, had strong hands in setting up a near-unassailable 4-0 advantage.
Suddenly, there was something to think about for the ladder-leaders as Elizabeth Butcher fired up in back-to-back ties and forced Shepparton North’s hand.
Dean Pritchett would return to complete his hat-trick of victories in the seventh fixture and secure the win for North, but Central Park made the score more than respectable by salvaging the final two rubbers.
Although Shepparton North’s 5-44 to 4-39 triumph was perhaps harder earned than anticipated, the opposite was true for rivals McEwen Reserve.
The usual suspects were in full force as McEwen totally played Karramomus off the courts, with a small handful of close ties once the match was well and truly put to bed.
The 9-54 to 0-24 shellacking moves McEwen Reserve to 9-1-2, effortlessly maintaining their one-game advantage over Shepparton North (8-1-3) while Central Park and Karramomus continue to languish at 3-9.
Down the divisions, only two of the four scheduled A1/A2 games took place after Lemnos forfeited to Shepparton North, while St. Brendans never took on McEwen Reserve Red.
The action we did see featured McEwen Reserve Green (11-1-1) further extending its massive gap atop the table with a crushing 7-48 to 2-18 win over Murchison Blue (0-1-12) while Murchison Gold (7-2-4) heavily lost ground after Kialla Park Old Students (7-1-5) swept their tie 9-54 to 0-13.
A3 saw a closer pair of results, with St. Andrews (9-3) scraping by Karramomus (6-6) to increase its breathing room at the top, while Shepparton North’s (3-9) upset victory over Central Park (6-6) means the second-placed deadlock remains intact.
A general bye arrives for the SDTA this weekend, with the Numurkah Tennis Tournament set to take centre stage on the courts.