This second meeting of the Dies and the Salties was much-anticipated, as the Dies had shown the Salties a watery grave in their first bout, held at the Greyhounds, with a score of MDC 259, SD 119.
A hefty crowd filed in to see the two original teams go at it, and the musical entertainment set the mood perfectly with some croony lounge tunes.
The skateout was a beautifully cheesy nod to ADRD’s daggy and endearing roots, as the two teams joined together in pairs.
Ra and Phil were first up to jam; both super talented and experienced. Phil burst through right away, but Ra as hot on her tail, and that pretty much set the scene for the rest of the half. Both teams were obviously keen for the win, and it showed.
Blocking was smart, fierce and purposeful and the jammers fought hard, despite constant slamming.
The Dies began to take some trips to the box, putting the pressure on the blockers left on track to cope with seasoned jammers like Wren, Phil and Trinket.
Guns, Milz, Ra and Luni worked tirelessly against the Salty blockers, solidly earning points and playing strategically, but by halfway through the first half the Salties were beginning to secure a lead.
The second half saw the Dies take off like a bull at a gate, with Bobby Dazzler popping through for lead against Wren. MustDash and Phil teamed up with some great blocking on Luni, while Stevie and LibSmacker put the heat on Trinket. Then, a powerjam to Wren. Moe, Ra and Rex brought some formidable blocking, but Wren is hard to stop! The score climbed, but those Dies never missed a beat in their stride.
Femmebot, Eagle, Driver and Bam kept up the super solid blocking to keep their lead safe, with a score of SD 150, MDC 77 ten minutes in. Rattles and Cracky battled it off for blocker of the jam and the action just kept on coming. The hits were getting harder, the pack faster.
It still felt like anybody’s game and was so riveting to watch, but with 12 minutes to go, the Salties had a hundred points on the Dies.
Stevie got fouled out for accumulated penalties and things began to look pretty dire for the queens of the sky. Still they fought, right until the final whistle for a score of SD 232, MDC 123. It was an absolute cracker of a bout, and if you missed it, sucks to be you!
Written by Tricksey Belt’Em (Road Train Rollers)