Saints dominant team
Natimuk got its first points of the Central Wimmera Tennis Association pennant season via a rained-out draw at the weekend but faces a tough test against St Michaels on Saturday.
The match at Natimuk will pit the league’s top side against its bottom side, with the Saints undefeated through four rounds and the home side still winless.
The Saints recorded an ominous win against Horsham Lawn Gillespie at the weekend, annihilating their opponents 11 sets, 93 games to one set, 30 games.
Such was the Saints’ dominance that they won five of the 12 rubbers to love, with another two wins coming by 8-1 scores.
The only bright spot for Lawn Gillespie was Ross Janetzki’s 8-5 win against Saint Peter Hayes in the second-last rubber of the day.
Lawn Gillespie is now reeling in sixth place after dropping its past three matches and faces an uphill battle to climb back into finals contention.
Reigning premier Kalkee got its season back on track with a 9-78 to 3-53 win against Central Park.
The Kees won two early rubbers through men’s pairing Steve Schultz
and David Pipkorn, 8-1 against Bayden Penrose and Brendan Nitschke, and women’s pair Anna Exell and Paula Weidermann, 8-3 against Sharon Clough and Josie Kerr.
The Parkers looked primed for a fightback when Ross Mcintyre captured the first singles rubber of the day 8-3 against Matt Beddison, but the Kees quickly re-established their stranglehold on the game.
All three of the Parkers’ rubber wins came through their men, with Nitschke downing Pipkorn 8-1 in singles before combining with Mcintyre to defeat Pipkorn and Beddison 8-2.
The Kees are third on the ladder with two wins and two losses, but trail second-placed Horsham Lawn Thompson after it stayed undefeated with a 9-82 to 3-59 win against Brimpaen.
The teams split the opening four rubbers, with Lawn Thompson taking both doubles sets through men’s pair Graeme Wood and Ben Hartwich and women’s pair Cherie Wood and Tahlia Thompson, but Brimpaen struck back in the singles through Daniel Smith and Ebony Dunn.
The results appeared to set up an intriguing arm wrestle, but from that point on Lawn Thompson dominated and Brimpaen won only one more rubber for the afternoon, courtesy of
Gerard Matthews and Smith. Brimpaen will now regroup for an important clash with the Kees.
The winner will have an early leg up in the top four race, with both sides recording two wins from four games so far.
Lawn Gillespie will try to get its season back on track with a home game against Central Park, and Lawn Thompson will travel to take on Drung South, which had its match against Natimuk washed out on Saturday.