BENDIGO Lawn scored a resounding 8-2 victory against fierce rival Spring Gully Brougham Arms in the Bendigo Tennis Association’s premier league clash on Saturday afternoon.
Aiming for back-to-back premierships, Lawn continued its dominance in the battle of last summer’s grand finalists.
The win lifted Lawn back to top spot on the ladder, four points clear of the Broughie line-up.
Most impressive aspect of the win was the form of Lawn’s top three men - Leroy Miller, Curt and Ward Garwood. Ward Garwood and Miller’s were the pick of the men’s singles sets, as they defeated the highly-rated Mark Houston and Jamie Brown, 8-4 8-1 respectively.
Lawn won the opening two men’s doubles sets.
The Gully combination of Jessica Hartland and Bronwyn Osborne fought back, with an equally impressive 8-2 thumping of Tamara Wright and Mandy Connors-Butson.
Hartland won a one-sided singles with Wright, and Connors-Butson defeated Osborne.
Stephen Cox was the sole singles winner for the Broughie men, with a tiebreaker win against Nick Bath.
At the mixed, the Lawn held a commanding 6-3.
The Broughie kept fighting, with a surprise mixed victory to Travis Toner and Jessica Hartland against Curt Garwood and Tamara Wright, 8-6. Lawn won the last two sets of the day through Miller and Connors-Butson in the mixed, and Ward Garwood and Nick Bath in the doubles.
Spring Gully Bigpond could do little to stop the Strath Park Storm achieving its second win in a row for the first time in almost two seasons.
The Storm was bolstered by the return of Andrew Lethlean for his first match of 2010, which allowed captain Michael Smyth to play at number three where he teamed with his son, Zoltan, in the doubles.
The Storm men won the opening doubles and all the singles matches.
Lethlean and Terry Smith combined well for the Storm, in not conceding a game to Jack Baker and Travis Johnston in the opening doubles. At the three and four pairings the result was a little closer, with father-son Michael and Zoltan Smyth withstanding seven match points to their opponents Leon Retallick and Michael Connors to score a 14-12 tiebreak win.
Bigpond’s Eliza Long and Heather Robbins played well against Storms Tova Penno (nee Smith) and Michelle Rodwell. The Bigpond girls won the doubles and both singles contests.
With the Bigpond team needing to win all last three sets of the day to level the match, it was again Lethlean who proved the winner for the Storm, as he combined with Zoltan Smyth to beat the young pair of Travis Johnston and Michael Connors, 8-0.
Jack Baker and Eliza Long fought hard for the Bigpond to score an 8-6 win against Smith and Penno.
Michael Smyth and Michelle Rodwell wrapped up the victory for the Storm with a win against Retallick and Robbins.
Castlemaine used the home-court advantage to secure its third win for the season against a disappointing South Bendigo. It was the Maine men who did the damage.
South Bendigo won two of the three opening doubles sets.
Grant Leader and Simon Kelly proved too strong for the Maine’s Dean Harris and Nathen Mitchell, and Maxine Everitt and Paige Ipsen scored a hard-fought 9-7 win against Alyssa Cole and Chloe McKenzie.
Castlemaine’s Pat McMillan and Leigh Campbell contiuned their impressive doubles record, with a hard-fought win against Alistair Baker and Nathen Bowie.
The match hit the singles and it was the Maine who stepped it up a gear. McMillan, Campbell, Mitchell and Alyssa Cole all scored convincing wins.
Grant Leader and Maxine Everitt kept South’s hopes alive with strong singles performances against Dean Harris and Chloe McKenzie respectively, before the pair combined to overcome Mitchell and McKenzie to level the match at five-all.
McMillan and Cole played well to overcome Alistair Baker and Paige Ipsen, before captain Leigh Campbell and Dean Harris combined to seal victory in the final men’s doubles match.
Epsom Butterflies had the bye.
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