Top Tuesday Night Squash League team Roche Firth Marchuk Financial did something unusual in this week's competition. They won the league championship.

Roche's close 17-15 victory over third ranked Pizza Hut helped dispel, at least for this year, the 'Curse of First' theory. 'Curse of First' has been a common belief among players since the league first began more than 10 years ago.

For Roche player Michel Gelinas, however, it is just an urban legend.

"For me it never existed," he said. "It's an urban legend and people like to feed off urban legends. It puts some spices in the competition I guess, things to talk about."

Gelinas, who was the final player on Roche Firth Marchuk Financial to see action, sealed his team's victory after winning the opening game 15-11 over Terri Cairns.

Taking the first game earned Roche a single point, which was enough to secure the championship.

Cairns gave him a friendly tap with her racket before both players shook hands. After that was over, the two competitors resumed their match up.

Despite the championship already being decided, Cairns gave it her all, winning what turned into a five-game marathon match.

Thanks to Cairns' efforts, Pizza Hut finished with an additional six points, while Gelinas, on the other hand, secured three points for his team.

Gelinas was quick to credit his teammates for taking some of the pressure off him in the final match.

"It did alleviate a lot of stress," he said. "It was quite a relief to win that first (game)."

Patrick Gardiner got Roche off to a great start, scoring six against Jim Gilpin, while substitute player Phil Jackson chipped in two points in his match against Jeff Seaman.

With the score tied at 8-8, Roche's number four player Doug Thorseth had a chance to restore his team's lead in the third match of the night.

Thorseth couldn't have been disappointed with the end result. He finished with six points and limited opponent Chris Ziegler to one.

Gelinas appreciated Thorseth's efforts, calling him the most steady player on the team.

"He won his three games and Chris didn't win one," he said. "That was the turning point. It gave me a breather, so many thanks to my predecessor Doug on the court."

He said Roche Firth Marchuk Financial's success this year was rooted in its consistency.

"A team can be red hot on a Tuesday, score 23 points out of 24, but come back the next Tuesday and score 10 points," Gelinas said. "Whereas we were pretty steady, 17, 18, 19 points, so regularity, being constant, really helped. No one on our team was a Wayne Gretzky of squash, so it was really a win coming from the team."

Roche Firth Marchuk Financial finished fewer than 20 points ahead of second place Assante in the league standings.

The turnaround was due, in large part, to the team's play mid season.

From Dec. 16 through Feb. 10, Roche scored an impressive 102 points, helping them take over the number one spot from Pizza Hut.

Gelinas said its nice to win, but the squash league is more than just about championships.

"It's fun to win, but I think 99.9 per cent of the players here are here for participation," he said. "It's competitive, but friendly competitiveness. I would rather lose a point than a squash companion and I think that is a motto for many players here."

MEADIAsolutions 15, Assante 14

It was a close back and forth battle for bronze between MEADIAsolutions and Assante.

Assante got off to a blazing start, after Eric Marcoux and Richard Meredith each scored six points.

MEADIAsolutions first two players Peter Mathur and Mark Tubman combined for four points.

An individual competitor in the squash league can earn points by winning games, wearing the team shirt, officiating and winning the match. A maximum of six points can be won by each player.

With the score 12-4 in Assante's favour, team fourth Trevor Mead-Robins helped turn MEADIAsolutions' fortunes around.

Mead-Robins scored six points in his four game match against Kai Knorr, who was a substitute squash player for Assante.

Mead-Robins' match was followed up by an equally impressive showing from MEADIAsolutions substitute player Chris Cullingham.

Cullingham needed only three games in his match against Lori Muir, finishing with five points, which is the maximum that a substitute player can win.

Knorr and Muir each finished with one point.