After 13 sets of the division one clash, both teams finished tied at 71 games apiece. With CTA rules dictating that a tiebreak be settled by sets won, it was Echuca that walked away with the points over a resurgent Elmore.
Chris Milnes opened Echuca’s account with a 6-2 win in the first set, but Mitch Byrne returned fire straight away for Elmore in the second, 7-5.
Kia Coatsworth and Ryan Byrne combined to extend Elmore’s lead in the third set, 8-3, but the Pooles — Oliver and Daryl — retaliated for Echuca with an 8-6 win in the fourth over Mitch Byrne and Craig Skeers.
Ryan Byrne and Jordan Tobin nudged Elmore seven games clear in the next doubles set 8-0 over the pairing of Riley Godfrey and Daryl Poole, but the women’s doubles belonged to Echuca with Tanya Godfrey/Lucy Higgins and Judy Poole/Donna Glen drawing Echuca back within three games.
They wrenched back the lead, with back-to-back 8-2 victories for Godfrey/Poole and Higgins/Glen in the final women’s doubles sets.
Mitch Byrne and Tanya Pratt replied with an 8-2 win for Elmore in the 10th set, before Milnes/Higgins (8-2) extended Echuca’s lead to nine games with two sets remaining.
But Elmore’s mixed doubles staged a remarkable comeback through Coatsworth and Lucas Gronow (8-4) and Skeers and Lucy Holmberg (8-3) to draw scores level.
However, with the superior number of sets won, Echuca 2 finished the winner 7-71 to 6-71.
Meanwhile, Rich River 1 was dominant out at Lockington, dropping just one set in a 46-game win over LBU 1.
Rochester 1 flexed its muscles late in the mixed doubles leg against LBU 2, victorious 9-88 to 4-69 as it continues to close the gap on Echuca 1 and Rich River at the top of the ladder.
Ladder-leader Echuca 1 faced clubmate Echuca 3 and showed its class with a 33-game win, led by Todd Charnas and Shane Coatsworth who didn’t drop a set all day.
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