Bout 1 – Wild Hearses v Road Train Rollers
The Roadies hit it hard from the first whistle and they raced out to a 20 point lead in the first few jams. But aggressive blocking from both teams saw jammers hitting the deck all over the place as the bout shaped up into a very even match. The Roadies played some focused roller derby to hold onto their lead, and both teams collected points, but the Hearses steadily scratched the differential back to head into half time one point ahead: WH 78 to RTR 77.
The start of the second half saw several more close lead changes before the Hearses surged to a 23 point lead with only 12 minutes to go. The Roadies put up a strong response to tie scores at 3 mins left on the clock, but as the crowd lost its voice cheering for this absolute nail-biter of a bout, the Hearses slipped ahead to win their first 2016 season bout, with a final score of WH 151 to RTR 141.
Bout 2 – Mile Die Club v The Salty Dolls
With the Salties down a heap of players due to injury and travel, this bout seemed a good chance for the Dies to chalk a solid win on the board for their first bout of the season, but of course, you can count on the Salty Dolls to never go down without a fight. The Dies leapt on the first whistle and quickly established a score lead while the Salties played strong and held it close for the first quarter. However, a couple of powerjams late in the first half saw the Dies take a clear 40 point lead into half time: MDC 110 to SD 66.
Great pressure from the Dies blockers, charging into the second half, saw more unfortunate trips to the box for Salty jammers and the game slid away from the ladies of the sea. At ten minutes left in the game, the lead had stretched to around 100 points, and the Dies rolled on to bring home the win with a decisive final score of MDC 259 to SD 119.
Written by Pyscho Fox (The Salty Dolls)