Moama’s day-one declaration catches Swans off guard

Before that, it was Echuca South who won the toss and wanted first crack at Moama on a pitch offering enough for the bowlers to take the upper hand.

Openers Michael Hill and Fraser Buchanan were able to get through the opening overs unscathed before a gem by Tristan Watson brought the former undone for six.

Watson was on a heater, dismissing first drop Archie Teasdale (1) just two overs later when he edged one behind to glove-man Grady Smith.

Buchanan and captain McMahon were able to steady the ship as they so often do, rotating strike and putting pressure back on the bowlers.

This counter-attack came to a close when McMahon (10), who was looking to be aggressive, hit one straight to cover off the bowling of Asantha Singappuli.

Again, when it rains it pours and two overs later Buchanan (31) looked to hit a climbing ball off Joel Stephens over point and gully, but ended up spooning it straight into the hands of Singappuli.

Now it was up to Mr Consistent, Matt Saunders, to salvage the early damage done by the Swans and was able to build momentum with Russell Stockdale in the middle order.

The pair got Moama just past 30 overs when an on-fire Tristan Watson struck again, this time blowing out the stumps of Stockdale (15).

Saunders found a marathon partner in Rhys Drennan, the youngster able to hang with the number five for 15 overs.

Yet, Singappuli managed to get it turning, sneaking one through Drennan’s (18) defence and lit up the zing bails.

After hitting a boundary off Singappuli, Saunders raised the bat once more for a timely half-century.

However, the spectacle produced a lapse in concentration for Saunders (50) who, like Drennan, let one by Singappuli through the gate.

Following the departure of Saunders, decent stints by Kirk Teasdale (6) and Liam Stephens (11) came to an end with 20 overs still to bat.

McMahon gave Simon Porter (12 not-out) and Mitchell Stephens (17 not-out) four overs to put pressure back on the bowlers before pulling the plug early, declaring at 9-191.

While declaring nine down isn’t that crazy, both Porter and Stephens were batting well and playing aggressively, but McMahon clearly saw something in the pitch and a chance to snag a strong position.

This proved to be a master-stroke as Matt Saunders, after doing it with the bat, backed it up with the ball and delivered back-to-back wickets of Jayden Rosin (1) and Singappuli (1) in the second over.

A few overs later and after piling on the pressure, Joel Stephens succumbed to McMahon, who beat him all ends up for a 20-ball duck.

While Ben Eade (2 not-out) and Nicholas McKenner (1 not-out) were able to survive until stumps, things are looking dicey for the visitors, who have their season on the line when play resumes on day two.