Wakey Wheeled Cats v Deathrow Hull, Saturday, March 30, 2019, at Sirius Academy, Hull.
Wakey Wheeled Cats 162 – Deathrow Hull 219
By Sian Steen
The Wakey Wheeled Cats took to the track again at the end of March, this time against Deathrow Hull at the Hull teams home venue, Sirius Academy.
First line up saw Rachel Welch on the jam line. Unfortunately, a penalty for Welch meant that Hull grabbed lead jammer status, putting points on the board and calling it off before Welch was released. This gave the home team the advantage for jam two, once again allowing Hull to score points and call it off before Wakey could score.
Jam three saw another lead from Deathrow, aided by the fact that Wakey had two blockers in the penalty box. Jam four was a turning point as Coral McNulty grabbed lead, scored six points and called it off, preventing Hull from strengthening their lead.
By jam nine, Wakey had closed the points gap, with the scores standing at 28-26. In jam 11, Welch was able to grab a few more points, putting the scores at 33-32 to Wakey, with the first lead change of the game. Unfortunately, this wasn’t enough to compete with the strong walls and light-footed jammers of Hull, and by jam 13 Hull had regained the lead, with the scores standing at 53-49.
Hayley Brooke took to the jam line for the first time in jam 17, winning lead and calling it off before Hull scored. Wakey stayed strong for the remainder of the first half with Katie Swift taking the star, followed by team captain Clare Johnson. Hull, however, played some excellent offence, and the first half ended 100-71 to Hull.
The second half opened with the Cats playing a bit more aggressively. Not to be outdone by the Hull offence, they started throwing in some counter moves, including a fantastic sweep to the outside from Swift, Betty Redford, and recently returned skater Sian Steen in jam seven. More offence in jam nine gave Welch an easy run to a further 20 points but sadly it wasn’t enough to equalise, despite some big hits from the Wakefield blockers.
The game ended with a score of 219 to 162. Certificates for best blocker and jammer went to Redford and McNulty respectively, with Johnson taking MVP and Welch being awarded the special certificate for Crowd Pleaser.
