By Derby News Network, Last updated Tue Feb 16 2010 4:38pm

WFTDA Sanctioned | General Interleague | Banked Track | Local Bouts

WFTDA Sanctioned

#12 Charm City 159, Montreal 57 -- A slightly rusty Charm City crew with a handful of debuting members took a little while to get in their groove against Montreal, but once they found it it was all Baltimore. Montreal was able to claim two 4-4 draws in the opening two jams, and on jam 5, they grabbed the lead at 13-11 as their speedy ace jammer Iron Wench put up a 3-0 win over Allie B. Back.

The lead changed hands twice in the next two jams, and Montreal was barely ahead again at 17-15 ten minutes into the bout -- but Charm City finally got a big jam and some daylight as Just Carol dropped a 13-0 powerjam on a boxed Georgia W. Tush. They also got almost complete control of the Montreal jammers, as MTLRD could only muster 8 more points in the half, all by Iron Wench. Still, though, a number of scoreless and low-scoring jams kept the overall halftime total fairly low at 56-25 Charm City.

By the time the second half started, though, Charm City had fully shaken off the early uncertainty. Through the opening 15 minutes of the half they added 59 points and allowed just 15 for Montreal, bringing the score to 115-40 with 14:25 to play, and it was only a matter of time. The second half went 103-32 for Charm City.

Charm jammers Bambi’s Revenge and first-game rookie Twibite tied for the points lead, racking up 36 points apiece (Bambi took 22 of hers in one big second-half jam.) MTLRD also had a tie at the top of their jammer stats, with 19 points each for squirrely speedster Iron Wench and always-persistent Georgia W. Tush. Both women managed to sneak through the pack despite the unrelenting defensive play of CCRG’s Joy Collision, who was playing her first bout since she sustained a severe knee injury during last fall's Eastern Regionals.

Montreal goes far afield next weekend when they go up against Tucson and Arizona on February 20 and 21st; Charm City has another closed bout against Richmond's River City on March 14 before a big West Coast trip in April that'll put them up against Rose City, Oly and Rat City on consecutive nights. -- Justice Feelgood Marshall & Ewan Wotarmy

Archived text boutcast from Justice Feelgood Marshall & Slack Kerowhack

Full video courtesy Dr. Johnny Capote: First Half / Second Half

#20 Steel City 157, DC Rollergirls 61 -- On February 13, the Steel City Derby Demons’ Steel Hurtin’ braved historic amounts of snow to face off against the DC Rollergirls’ DC All-Stars in their first WFTDA Sanctioned bout on their home turf, the DC Armory. The two teams last met when they vied for 7th place at the 2009 Eastern Regional tournament, where Steel Hurtin’ handed the DC All-Stars a punishing 222-56 loss.

In this game, DC benefited almost immediately from a major penalty called on Steel City jammer The Crippler, allowing new All-Stars Roller Rage Rosie and Lenore Gore to put up 7 unanswered points over the course of two jams. But DC soon found its fortune reversed when Gore was sent to the box, springing Crippler, who, thanks to a tight Steel City offense, was able to post 14 points in return.

Early on, the Steel City pack—led by captain Athena—demonstrated their adeptness at trapping DC jammers, effectively holding back Marion Barrycuda while Steel City’s Snot Rocket Science sailed through to a triple grand slam that catapulted Steel City into a solid 34-16 lead. For the remainder of the half, DC took advantage of Steel City penalties to force low-scoring jams, but Steel City proved more adroit when given the same opportunity, with jammer Hurricane Heather putting up a whopping 24 points in two jams while DC jammers sat in the penalty box. By halftime, Steel City had considerably widened their lead to 79-30.

DC started out strong in the second half, with Hoova Dayum keeping Steel City jammer The Crippler occupied while teammate Free Radical fought her way through on the inside line to earn lead jammer status, going on to earn 12 points for DC. But Steel City continued to rely on a well-honed offensive strategy that sent jammer after jammer through the pack on 20-foot calls, as DC jammers either found themselves in the penalty box or trapped behind a virtually impenetrable wall of yellow.

Penalties would plague the DC offense throughout the second half; that, plus a late addition to Steel City’s jammer lineup (The Shocker, who earned her team a total of five grand slams during her time on the track) allowed Steel City to build its lead into the triple digits. Not ones to go out quietly, DC put jammer Rosie (a recent transfer from "the other" Washington’s Slaughter County Roller Vixens) on the line in one of the final jams of the night. Rosie's takedown of rival jammer The Shocker and subsequent grand slam elicited hearty cheers from the packed house at the Armory. But it was ultimately too little, too late for DC, as they racked up their first loss of the WFTDA season with a final score of 157-61.

DC’s next WFTDA-sanctioned matchup will pit them against Montreal on March 6 at the DC Armory. Steel City, now 1-0 for the season, will take on Maine in Pittsburgh on March 20. -- Lady Burn Johnson