by Michael Frighten’d

On February 18th at Romp ‘n’ Roll in Glenshaw, fans caught a much-needed glimpse of Spring as the Steel City Derby Demons hosted the first public bout of what should be a great 2010 season. Thirty inches of white stuff was temporarily plowed out of mind by sixty minutes of Black versus Gold action as Demons from all levels split up into two evenly-matched squads for this scrimmage. The bout served as not only a good chance for skaters, refs, and staff to return to top form after an off-season’s hibernation, but wound up as a close and competitive battle right until the final jam.

Black took the early lead thanks to Elsie Thudd and others controlling the first few jams, but Gold caught up by the 15 minute mark and then slipped ahead to a lead they would ultimately never relinquish. Kat Von D’stroya provided most of the Gold scoring in the first half, highlighted by a 20-point run while The Crippler, Black’s jammer, sat out a penalty. Great team defense by Black’s Girl Rolla Warfare and Bonecrusher shut down Gold’s high-scoring Hurricane Heather and the score at halftime saw Gold leading 73-47.

Hurricane Heather could not be contained after the break, however, and blew ahead with an 18-point jam for Gold to start the half. Big scores through spread-out packs was the story of the second half’s early action as Gold’s Kat Von D’stroya and McShovin traded big scores with Black’s Dakota Slamming and The Crippler. Then, as the newly formed teams began to gel, defense and control was asserted as Black’s Ally McKill, Attaxl Rose, and B.B. Basher (who notably dominated McShovin one jam) enabled their jammers to slowly chip away at Gold’s lead.

With only a few minutes left, The Crippler had an inspired 15-point jam, including taking out two Gold blockers herself, with one hit. Following this, Black cut the lead to a mere 5 points as The Shocker used her blazing speed to rack up 25 points while veteran blocker Damage Dahl put on a clinic for Gold’s gutsy rookie jammer, Killer Lily.

This was as close as Black would get, however, as Gold’s jammers maintained control for the rest of the match.  To her team’s cheers of “Go Bananas!” Vicious Virus scored 14 points to seal the win and a final score of Gold 173, Black 151. The fans went home happy, knowing no matter what the groundhog says, Steel City Derby Demon action means more good times are coming soon!