Changing of guard in full effect at the top of Goulburn Murray Lawn Tennis Association

Nov 18, 2024

Velvet Tigers' Sam McKenzie McHarg certainly did his part in a handy round five win. Photo by Rechelle Zammit

You never want to prematurely call a race, but a chasm is rapidly forming in Goulburn Murray Lawn Tennis Association.

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Round five’s results at the weekend have only served to further widen the gulf between the two top and two bottom sides in the GM1 division.

The Velvet Tigers, runners-up last campaign, have sought to rubber-stamp their credentials in a new season and happily proved their worth further on Saturday.

The Nathalia-based outfit hit the road to tangle with Shepparton Lawn The Valley and actually found themselves in an early hole after Jeremy O’Brien claimed the day’s opening rubber for the host.

Sam McKenzie McHarg would immediately answer back by rattling off the first win of a three-for-three individual day and, four sets in, the Tigers were firmly back on top of the contest.

Hope Curtis-McDonald provided some spark with two wins — a big-time singles rubber before victory alongside Ella Rohde — to set up a finale that seemed like it could have fallen either way.

The Tigers flexed their might once more down the stretch with everything on the line, however, rattling off the final three doubles sets to claim an 8-75 to 4-67 victory and move their record to 4-1 in the process.

Meanwhile, Numurkah Warriors continued to try and breathe life into what has been an injury-stricken premiership defence, descending on the same location at Shepparton Lawn Tennis Club to meet Average Joes.

The game seemed evenly poised towards its early and later stages, but Average Joes struck gold with three straight doubles wins to open the second half of the tie that ultimately proved the difference in a 7-78 to 5-66 win.

With that pair of results, Velvet Tigers and Average Joes sit at 4-1 in contrast to the 1-4 records shared by Numurkah and The Valley.

In the next division, McEwen Reserve continued its dominant start to life in the GMLTA realm by remaining GM2’s only unbeaten team through five rounds after beating Numurkah Raiders 8-69 to 4-43.

Full results for round five of the GM2 Open and GM3 competitions were unavailable at the time of publishing, but Tatura Twisters opened up a two-game gap at the top of the GM4 division after overcoming Kialla Park-Old Students 5-60 to 4-50 and move to five wins from five.