Liverpool Roller Birds (B) vs. Munich Rolling Rebels

This weekend was filled with fun and excitement.  LRB Chicks (B) went on a massive adventure – travelling to Munich for a bout against the Rolling Rebels!  We have close ties with Munich because one of our own Birds has flown our coop, back to her hometown, and helped found the Rolling Rebels.

Our very own Angua Wheeltoofar, when she was a Roller Bird!
Our very own Angua Wheeltoofar, when she was a Roller Bird!

 

We’d been preparing for this for months, so we were all a little anxious and a bit bouncy with anticipation.  We’ve bouted against Munich before, hosting them in Liverpool for the win.  Of course we were hoping to do that again, but first we had important preparations to make. We arrived on Friday afternoon, and began those preparations.  Mostly involving Gigantic Beers:

The amazing Nauti-Kill modeling the latest in Bavarian Mugwear.
The amazing Nauti-Kill modeling the latest in Bavarian Mugwear. (As our Bench, she wasn’t skating the next day…whew!)

 

And absolutely enormous plates full of delicious Bavarian dishes, with an extra helping of fleisch:

Our hosts made reservations at this traditional Bavarian restaurant, where there was much beer, meat,  and grown men in Liederhosen!
Our hosts made reservations at this traditional Bavarian restaurant, where there was much beer, meat, and grown men in Lederhosen!

This was all a precursor to the event of the next day, the bout!

At the first whistle, Munich showed how tough they were going to prove to be.  The first half had the Chicks on the defense from the start, and our jammers were taking a battering from Munich’s amazingly strong walls.  It took the Chicks nearly the whole first half to find our stride.  We battled back from some confusing plays and situations to put up some points, but at the half Munich still held an impressive lead.

Fat controller walls of doom.  Photo by Frieder Kesch.
Walls of doom. Photo by Frieder Kesch.

 

Kitty Von Vixen takes a few hard hits.  Photo by Frieder Kesch.
Kitty Von Vixen takes a few hard hits. Photo by Frieder Kesch.

 

In the second half, we felt we found our footing a bit more.  Our walls came together, our jammers got through more frequently.  Our blockers used their offensive moves bit more often.  But don’t let our improvement fool you; Munich is a damn tough team and we fought for every bit of improvement we got.  It was not enough in the end, with Munich taking the win with a comfortable point spread.

 

Two blockers on track? No problem for Lydia Astray and Lula Bruise, who managed to knock the jammer out of bounds with this move.  Photo by Frieder Kesch.
Two blockers on track? No problem for Lydia Astray and Lula Bruise, who managed to knock the jammer out of bounds with this move. Photo by Frieder Kesch.

 

Kitty Von Vixen earned some sneaky points with this jump past Munich's line while the Munich Jammer called it.  Photo by Frieder Kesch.
Kitty Von Vixen earned some sneaky points with this jump past Munich’s line while the Munich Jammer called it. Photo by Frieder Kesch.

 

Final score!
Final score!

Our takeaways from this bout will be that we work so well together when we get into our zone, but we will also be taking lessons back to practice to improve ourselves each week.  Munich is a gorgeous city, we loved exploring it, and the Rolling Rebels may well be our favourite team to lose to.  Their hosting was thoughtful and gracious, and we never wanted for information, ideas, directions, or food!  We really felt the derby love this weekend, and can’t wait to spend more time with our friends from the Munich Rolling Rebels!

 

Thank you, Munich Rolling Rebels! All the derby kisses!
Thank you, Munich Rolling Rebels! All the derby kisses!

 

 

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