McEwen Reserve’s two resident powers – Gold and Red – clashed racquets in round five of the competition on Friday night, and it was the former living up to its name in the wake of a 5-42 to 4-37 victory.
Gold got off to a roaring start as Charlie Thomson and Lloyd Akers scored a 6-4 win in the opening rubber, but three ties later, the scores were level at 2-2.
The Friday night affair continued its see-sawing trend - however, the match was ultimately won in the sixth rubber.
Helen Malcolm and Kylie Reither stepped it up against Debbie Hosie and Donna Whelan, bagelling the Red duo to push Gold into a position of supremacy.
Gold then went on to win two out of three of the mixed doubles rubbers, eventually landing its first match victory since round one.
It lifts the side to third with an evenly keeled 2-2 record, while holding Red in fourth at 1-3.
Elsewhere, Shepparton North’s monopoly on the division rolled on as it triumphed over Lemnos at home for a perfect 4-0 start.
The Northerners were in pink touch under the amber evening sky, netting six out of the nine rubbers for a 6-44 to 3-32 win.
North’s men were on form from the jump as Clark Pettigrew, Dean Pritchett and Gary Harvey combined for 6-3, 6-3 and 6-1 wins in the opening volley of ties.
Lemnos bit back in the women’s doubles, though, taking two out of three rubbers to set up a grandstand finish in the mixed doubles.
However, North swung hard to finish the evening’s play on a high, beating second-placed Lemnos to create six points’ worth of breathing room at the top of the tree.
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