Friday night marked QCRG’s 4th home league bout of the season, with the Devil Dollies facing up against the returning champs, the Nickel City Knockouts, who came out hungry for #18 in their 17-game winning streak. Despite the Knockouts being successful in the end, the Dollies managed to execute some very strong ‘voodoo-style’ blocking on those ladies in blue. It appears that new mascot is on to something!
The Knockouts’ powerhouse jammer LiBrawlian had a strong lead jammer showing in the first half, earning 71 of the Knockouts’ 126 points. Dollies’ jammers Ashes t’Ashes, Vanilla Creamz and Lo Hits Griffin fought hard against the Knockouts’ solid defence and managed to squeeze in 45 points for the Dollies by halftime.
After some time to breathe and refocus, the Dollies came out very strong in the second half with much tighter walls and more strategic blocking which proved to be a much bigger challenge for the Knockouts, who started getting into some significant penalty trouble. By the 12th jam the Dollies had broken the century mark, steadily closing the gap to a score of 173-108. This however didn’t stop Brawl and Ivana LeiHerOut from continuing to rack up enough points for the KOs.
A star-pass from Chickadeemolish to MURPHY in jam #20 earned the Dollies a quick 14 points. Ashes and Griff scooped up 17 more for the Dollies, ending the game with a score of 214-154 in favour of the Knockouts.
All numbers aside, this crowd-pleasing bout was a positive for both teams, who were all smiles in the end as they congratulated each other for finishing a very fun and competitive game.
If you missed out on the black and blue action, you can make up for it on Friday May 22 when these teams meet again. The next bout at Riverworks is scheduled for Friday April 3, where the Alley Kats will take on the Suicidal Saucies. You won’t want to miss out!
~Murphy