Rollers: 1-and-1 in Germany+images+video
Guten Tag! Day one of competition saw the Rollers up against world champions Canada and Great Britain, led by ex Australian coach Murray Treseder. These matches never fail to be eventful and entertaining, and today was no exception.
First up was Canada, who had brought their full strength team, led by returning coach Mike Frogley. The Rollers again got off to a shaky start, feeling out the game and getting used to the rhythm of the refined Canadian group.
Click here to watch a feature story on Troy Sachs and Dylan Alcott.
The Rollers were not to be dominated though and kept a tight defence which kept the margin from getting out of hand. The second half saw the Rollers come into bloom, with the youthful three 4.0 combination of Tristan Knowles, Brett Stibners, and Bill Latham taking charge of the match and testing all the experience of the Canadians.
The match then became the arm wrestle we are accustomed to with the Canadians, with the lead changing multiple times, building to a thrilling climax. At the full time siren, a difference in the teams could not be found and we headed to overtime.
The extra time was still a tight affair with the Rollers trading blows, despite having 3 players fouled out by that time. In the end, a point was all that was in it, with the Canadians edging over 73-72.
While this is not the result we wanted, there were many promising signs to be taken out of it, and certainly Canada will have to be on their guard come Beijing.
The second match of the day was against Great Britain, whom seemed to have taken a leaf out the German team and decided to play very physically which both helped and hurt them, in the foul count.
Once again, the Rollers took some time to get into the game, but in the same vein as the Canada game, couldn’t be shaken. In what could only be termed a scrappy middle half, both teams traded big shots and big hits with the score remaining tight.
But through determined defence and an especially dominant Troy Sachs, we were able to account for the Britons taking the match 57 - 48.
Tomorrow sees the Rollers take on the fiery German team in the last of the qualification rounds, and the semi final. After today’s events, it’s sure to be tight and tough until the very end!
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