With the temperature gauge notched up a few degrees, eager fans got their first (or second in Moama's case) glimpse at the two local Murray Netball League teams this year.
But with a bit more experience among its ranks, it was Moama who brought the fire to come out on top in a comfortable 55-31 victory.
After missing out on the points against Deniliquin last week, Moama coach Jodie Lake said the group was ecstatic to get a winning result this time around.
But the convincing defeat over Echuca United didn't come without hard work, as the elements added an extra challenge for both teams to combat.
"The girls played really well in really tough conditions,” Lake said.
"I've never seen anything like the heat coming off the asphalt on Friday.
"But lucky enough we had that depth to keep rotating our mid-court each quarter.
"We had fresh legs coming on every quarter, and made sure people weren't becoming too fatigued in the one spot, but especially in that mid-court.”
With many among the winning side's ranks starring, there was one young gun Lake was full of praise for after anchoring the back court for the Mowers.
"Corey Drennan - I think she really stood up,” Lake said.
"It's her first year in seniors. She played under-17s in 2019 and missed playing her first season last year.
"For her first stand-out game, I thought she read the play really well and contributed and made a difference in goal keeper.
"I was really proud of her performance for such a young girl.”
On the losing end of the result was Echuca United, who played its first game for premiership points in more than 18 months.
But while the opening result was disappointing for the club, there remains plenty to be excited about according to Head of Netball Chris Day.
"Everyone wants to win, but for us, it was about getting us all out there, getting it started, and seeing where we can go and what we can improve on,” Day said.
"There was a lot of positives; I thought we were in it for the first 10 minutes of each quarter and then Moama snuck away in the last five of every quarter."
"We are quite young and we did run out of legs a bit with the hot weather.
"We had three players coming up from juniors, who debuted in their first A-grade games.
"And a few who had played C-grade who got their first opportunity to come up. It's super exciting for them all.”
"We definitely saw some good signs of where we can go in the near future."
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