Wakey Wheeled Cats vs Roller Derby Leicester, Saturday 15th June
Final score: Wakey 390 – Leicester 35
By Sian Steen
On the 15th of June, Wakey Wheeled Cats travelled to Leicester, to
take on Roller Derby Leicester at their home venue.
The Cats started out strong, sending out Coral McNulty who took full
advantage of a power jam as well as 2 RDL blockers being sent off. She
was able to score 20 points to RDL’s 0, despite being sent off for a
cut track toward the end of the jam.
Starting on a power jam meant that RDL had a distinct advantage at the
start of jam 2, although they were unable to capitalise on it. Strong
walls from Scarlett Wilson, Amanda Shaw, Helen Lindley and Fiona
Metcalfe were able to hold back the Leicester jammer and prevent the
star pass they attempted, improving Wakey’s lead by another 4 points.
Debuting skater Niki Hearns took the star for jam 3, flying through
RDL’s walls and grabbing another 6 points, but calling it off before
the other team were able to score. However, an official review at the
end of jam 3 saw Hearns in the penalty box, giving RDL a power jam
start for jam 4. Not a problem for Wakey’s strong walls, though – the
Leicester jammer was contained and then sent off for a penalty, and
Hearns was able to get lead status and call it off.
Another power jam start for jammer Sian Steen in jam 5 gave her the
opportunity to sneak through and grab 4 points before calling it off.
By the end of jam 5, the score was 40 to the Cats, with RDL yet to
score.
WWC’s walls were the strongest they’ve been all season, and some
fantastic offence from the Wakey blockers meant that the jammers were
able to simply focus on getting lead jammer status and racking up the
points. They passed the centurion in jam 10, when Hearns took the
score to 101-0. RDL got their first points on the board in jam 11,
after Steen was sent to the penalty box twice in quick succession, and
the jam closed out at 105-12.
The points kept coming for the Cats, with the RDL jammers getting
caught up in those strong walls almost every time. Leicester’s skaters
attempted to help their jammer break the walls down, but Wakey were
too quick to reform every time. The first half ended 202-21.
RDL came back stronger in the second half, but still not strong enough
to hold back those Wakey jammers. In jam 1, with Wilson wearing the
jammer hat, another 4 points were put on the board for the visitors.
WWC mixed it up a little, with Katie Swift, Danielle Millea and Shaw
all fulfilling the jammer role during the second half. RDL were
penalty heavy, which gave Wakey a further boost, and the
second half ended with a score of 390-35.
The Best Blocker award went to Blackwell, McNulty picked up Best
Jammer, and Johnson was MVP for the Cats