Sport

Elmore claims first win amid fixture chaos

By Josh Huntly

Jan 17, 2022

Breaking the duck: Ryan Byrne (pictured) and Elmore 1 snapped their winless run with a 17-game win over LBU 1. Photo by Contributed

Elmore Tennis Club broke through for its first division one win of the season in the only Campaspe Tennis Association match to go ahead over the weekend.

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Five senior match-ups were abandoned with several sides unable to field teams due to player shortages, after the CTA opted to forge ahead with round eight following a league meeting on Wednesday night.

Both senior divisions were affected, with the entirety of division two action scuppered along with three division one games.

Points will be split in those fixtures after the CTA ruled that teams with players affected by COVID-19 isolation requirements wouldn’t be penalised for forfeitures.

In division one however, Elmore 1 and LBU 1 managed to get play under way, and it was Elmore who had the better of their encounter to walk away with its maiden win of the 2021-22 season by 17 games.

Kia Coatsworth got Elmore off to a solid start with a 6-4 set victory, but it was LBU who held the early advantage with Noah Condliffe (6-2) getting his club on the board, before the doubles pairing of Stanley Brentnall and Darryl Squires (8-7) extended their early ascendancy.

Elmore retaliated through Ryan Byrne and Craig Skeers in the second men’s doubles set, 8-4, while Skeers backed up in the third men’s doubles rubber with Mitch Byrne (8-5) to extend Elmore’s lead.

LBU’s Katie Condliffe and Narelle Bacon won 8-6 from Taylah Pratt and Lois Toohey, but it was all Elmore from there, winning five sets on the trot to seal the 9-85 to 4-68 win and drag themselves off the bottom of the division one standings.