Roo Island and Darigan Citadel Square Off (25 Jun 2008)
Darigan versus Roo Island - it's a match that Yooyuball fans have had circled on their schedules ever since it was announced. The two teams share a storied rivalry, having met in the finals of Year 9's tournament and the semi-finals of Year 8. Although the Citadel prevailed in both those matches, the winds of change appear to be blowing in Altador. While Darigan has looked less than impressive during the early going of Year 10's tournament, Roo Island has been marching through their opponents with withering ferocity. To the shock of Darigan's fans (and the absolute delight of ardent Rooligans), this match was practically over before it even began. Roo Island, employing a relentless defensive attack that completely unnerved Darigan's players, created numerous turnovers that led to lots of easy scores and threw the Citadel's Yooyuballers completely off their game. "They've looked tentative early on in this tournament," Roo Island forward Jair Tollet observed, "plus they've been coasting a little against weaker teams like Faerieland and Terror Mountain. That's why we decided to jump on them straight away and never let up, hoping we could break their will before running out of energy ourselves. It was a risky tactic, but one that worked fantastically well in the end." Despite the defeat, all was not lost for the Citadel squad, as the team's vocal fans managed to make plenty of noise and shout down their Roo Island foes. That being said, the Rooligans made it known that they're the ones in this rivalry who possess the upper hand when it comes to slushie slinging skills.