Travelling to Rich River Bowls Club, Rochy put in a spirited effort in round nine to push the host to the brink.
Unfortunately, Rich River got over the top in the end, prevailing 13-58 to 3-47.
Rich River’s Keith Hewitt and Leslie Walles drew 17-apiece in a gritty battle in rink three before Rochester’s Richard Feuk scraped past Tim Noar 18-16 in rink one.
In the end, it was Rich River’s Gary Radford who showed his class against Rochy’s Timothy Quinlan, claiming the rink and the match for his club 25-12.
Rochy will be in for an uphill battle on Saturday, hosting league leaders Moama at Rochester Bowls Club.
Lower grades
Division three saw a full slate of action as Lockington took care of business against Kyabram 14-60 to 2-44, Elmore beat Tongala 14-70 to 2-62 and Rich River and Rochester drew their match 9-57 to 7-57.
It was a strong round for away teams in division four, with every visitor tallying a victory.
Lockington got the job done against Kyabram 14-72 to 2-57, and Rich River emerged victorious against Rochester 12-56 to 4-54.
Division five also had plenty of action on Saturday as Deniliquin Blue defeated Lockington 13-41 to 1-36 and Rich River took down Rochester 14-52 to 0-19.