The clash has so far lived up to its billing as the Grassmere Cricket Association match of the round, with the Crabs getting their claws in front.

Batting first on its home wicket, Panmure eked out 209 before it was bowled out in the 58th over.

Tom Wright top-scored for the Bulldogs with 61 while Chris Bant continued his good form with 34.

Killarney faced 12 overs at the end of the day and got through to stumps at 1-47 with Matthew Fleming the last wicket to fall when he was bowled on 16.

The Crabs have not tasted defeat since losing their first two games of the season and will start favourites to add to their winning streak when play resumes next Saturday.

Despite his team being in a strong position, Killarney captain Brett Halliwell, who finished the day on 23 not out, said it wasn’t a great performance.

“It wasn’t one of our strongest performances — I thought it was the worst we have bowled for a while,” Halliwell said.

“We bowled too full and they were able to put the bad ball away for four and it was our ground fielding and catching that got us through.

“Our catching was great and there were three or four half-chances that we hung onto which made a big difference.

“The pleasing thing is the way we toughed it out. They were 3-130 at one stage so to stick at it when we weren’t playing the best showed a lot of character.”

The Killarney effort to restrict to Panmure to 209 was  even more amazing given the Crabs were without their strike bowler Brayden Buchanan who missed with a hamstring strain.

First choice wicketkeeper Jeremy Sheehan was also out with a broken wrist and he could miss up to a month of cricket.

In other round 14 games Wangoom is in a position of strength thanks to 264 from captain Brett Tory.

This remarkable contribution led his team to a score of 9-492 against Mailors Flat.

Yambuk is well on top in its game against Hawkesdale with the Buks bowlers knocking over the Cats for 170.

Tyson Umbers got the best figures with 3-34 while Murray Habel top scored for Hawkesdale with 42.

And Grassmere has a tough run chase ahead after Purnim had the best of day one in their game putting on 255.

Both Aaron Peterson and Dallas Armitstead hit 65 for Purnim while Michael Malady grabbed 3-55 for Grassmere.