The unbearable lightness of Macaron.

So, somehow I managed to promise Team Scotland some macaron for their inaugural bout on the 10th of September.

This may or may not have been a problem, considering that I've never made them before.

--
For those of you not aware of them, macaron are French confections, made by carefully folding almond flour and whipped meringue, and piping out small biscuits. They're almost always served sandwiched around a stiff filling, like a flavoured buttercream or ganache, which permeates the macaron with its flavour over a day's maturation. The British macaroon is a kind of de-evolved offshoot of them, despite being almost totally different nowadays.

Macaron are also famously finicky to make, being very sensitive to oven temperature, undercooking, over (and under) mixing, and excessive haste. In particular, it is essential to rest your piped macaron before cooking, for up to an hour, and they are at their best a day or two after cooking (macaron that appear overcooked can improve tremendously after sitting and absorbing moisture from their filling for a while).

Considering their forebodingly exacting requirements, I was wondering if I would ever be able to make workable biscuits, so I did a test run this evening...

(The following macaron use the recipe from http://notsohumblepie.blogspot.com/2010/08/macaron-troubleshooting-new-recipe.html which also include an extensive list of tips on how to improve your macaron.)

Unbaked, resting macaron. They're just starting to develop a skin here. (The blue colour is from a single drop of food colouring gel added to the mix. I think I probably need a second drop to get the right hue.)

Macron post cooking. They've browned a little too much, so our  oven is clearly a little too hot.

Base of macaron - you can tell it is cooked, as the base is almost totally flat.

Closeup of broken macaron - notice the lack of large internal bubbles (a sign of undercooking, or undermixing of the macaronage). Notice also the feet on the base of the macaron, which are a little extended, due to the too hot oven.

A completed macaron, a little messy since it's just a test. The filling is an orange buttercream, made to the recipe on http://cannelle-vanille.blogspot.com/2008/01/lavender-and-orange-macaroons.html

So, actually, my first macarons have turned out okay, actually. Certainly not a disaster.

I encourage everyone else to try making these excellent little French confections, they're not as scary as you think!

Bout Report: Auld Reekie Roller Girls' Twisted Thistles vs Stuttgart Valley Rollergirlz 20 August 2011

Two weeks ago, in their first Edinburgh Fringe bout, Auld Reekie Roller Girls' Cannon Belles defeated Glasgow's Maiden Grrders in an exciting bout that saw a huge number of new Roller Derby fans.

On the 20th, Auld Reekie's A-team, the Twisted Thistles, played the second Fringe bout, taking on Stuttgart Valleys' Rollergirlz in an international bout.
The last time the two teams played, the Thistles won a convincing victory, with 92 points to SVRG's 68; could they repeat the performance this time?

This bout was also streamed live by UK bout video team
rduk.tv

In addition to the rematch, this bout was special for featuring the last appearances of popular ARRG skaters Juicy Lucy (off to London, and the LRG), and Fight Cub (off to Aberdeen, and the GCRG). Obviously keen to make the most use of them before they left, the two featured in a huge number of the line-ups in the coming bout. (Okay, it's because Fight Cub's a great blocker, and Juicy Lucy is an excellent jammer, but...)

Before the bout, there's always the skateout, introducing our two teams. SVRG excelled themselves with a complex counterskating pattern (which was very difficult to film adequately).

-

Period 1

ARRG prevent SVRG's Vegas from getting past...

Starting from a no-score first jam, where Polly Purgatory (13) only just outpaced Juicy Lucy (666) out of the pack, the difference between the teams was impossible to call. The first jam is pretty much always a warm up and a chance for the teams to test each others' mettle, however...

Having apparently warmed up, the home team proceeded to dominate the next 6 jams, picking up 31 points to SVRG's 2 (both picked up in jam 4, by Polly Purgatory ), and taking the knee in most of them to hurry things along. Most of ARRG's gains came in two power jams, both exploited well by a fast Blazin' Phoenix (28), picking up 14 points in jam 3 and 9 in jam 7 .

Ciderella comes off worst trying to block Polly Purgatory
from scoring more points.

Ironically, it was the last seconds of that 7th jam that gave SVRG the seed of their resurgence, the ARRG jammer getting herself sent to the sin-bin in her final scoring pass, and the final seconds of the jam. Starting jam 8 from a power jam situation, the away team's Polly Purgatory hextupled their score to 12 in a minute's play. Continuing SVRG's lucky streak, the 9th jam saw their Vegas (80) effortlessly gain lead jammer. Frustrated by her lack of progress, ARRG's Juicy Lucy handed her a Power Jam, track cutting once too often.
Although Vegas was forced to call the jam moments later due to great blocking from ARRG's Minnie Riot (7), SVRG took the knee into jam 10, allowing Blitzkrieg Baby (9) to take full advantage of the remaining solo time, picking up another 10 points for the away team.
Halfway through the first period, ARRG's initial lead had crumbled, the score now standing at a competitive:

31 ARRG : 25 SVRG

Stuttgart Valleys' run of power jams looked like it was about to continue for at least another jam, with ARRG Captain Zillah (555) attaining lead jammer, and then a trip to the sin-bin on her scoring pass. This time, however, SVRG fumbled the chance, their own jammer, Public Enemy (1) also getting herself sent off before she could score more than a couple of points, returning Zillah to the fray. 

Zillah called the jam, handing the extra power jam time over to Blazin' Phoenix in jam 12, but she played it safe, just taking a single grand-slam pass before calling it herself.

After an official Time-Out, and with now only 10 minutes remaining in the first period, it was still all to play for, with just 11 points between the teams.

Blazin' Phoenix (28) outskates SVRG's Vegas (80) to
shut down her chances of scoring.

For the first time unaided by a power jam, SVRG grabbed points in jam 13, Polly Purgatory beating Zillah out of the pack and to a scoring pass. Trying it again, Vegas beat Blazin' Phoenix out of the pack in the next jam, but the ARRG jammer's superior track speed allowed her to pass her opponent; the jam was called no score. SVRG were tenacious in their new aggression, however, Blitzkrieg Baby also leaving the pack first in jam 15, but without lead jammer. Good blocking from pivot Public Enemy and Titty Twister held Zillah back in the pack for some time, however, so SVRG managed to pick up a couple of points before she could call it. 

Now really pushing things, after a series of very short, low-score jams, SVRG took the knee into jam 16. Blazin' Phoenix took lead jammer, however, and a couple of points before Polly Purgatory got close to the pack. 

The low-scoring, evenly-matched jams continued over the next 3 jams, the teams trading lead jammer, but not picking up many points either way.  (17, 19)

And then, with only about 3 minutes left in the period, jam 20 was finally a full length jam, although not by choice - neither Zillah nor Vegas attained lead jammer status due to unclean passes. With both teams blocking strongly in the jammers' scoring passes, Vegas managed to pick up enough minors to get sent to the sin-bin, handing Zillah a late power jam. A strong leading wall stopped Zillah from doing as much as she might have done, however, with Teaze The Tiger (16) and Noxious Angel (17) particularly problematic for the ARRG jammer. In the end, she only picked up 5 points by the end of the jam.

The final two jams, (21, 22) were back to the rapid pace of the majority of the period so far, with both teams picking up points in the penultimate jam, but Blazin' Phoenix proving her worth once again in the final jam, effortlessly taking the outside line past the pack while Alma Geddon (42) and Danger Mouth (55) slowed SVRG's Blitzkrieg Baby sufficiently to allow their jammer to pick up a brace of points.

At the end of the first period, the scores stood at:

57 ARRG : 45 SVRG

-

In the half-time break, there was always time to go buy tee-shirts, crafty things... and usually cake. This time the cake stall sold out of all of its produce, however; could the tension of the close bout have been giving everyone munchies?

In any case, people could still spend their cake money on other worthwhile causes, including the first appearance of the official Team Scotland merchandise.

The Team Scotland Stall sells another T-shirt.

Team Scotland's first bout is on the 10th of September, with the selected team members facing a team of those Scottish players who didn't get to be in the team ("The Rest").

-

Period 2

Coming back into the second period, Stuttgart Valley had a 12 point points deficit to make up. In the first jam, they showed how they planned to deal with it... jammer Polly Purgatory slipping through the pack first, but without lead jammer status. That wasn't so much of a problem, with ARRG's Juicy Lucy failing to get by a strong SVRG defence, led by Titty Twista (81) and Teaze The Tiger, without a bit of track cutting, robbing her of lead jammer status as well. Polly Purgatory proved the better at jammer-to-jammer blocking, knocking Juicy Lucy to the track, to increase her lead, while Titty Twista once more became the ARRG jammer's nemesis when she entered the pack. With Teaze The Tiger pushing ARRG blockers out of the way, the SVRG jammer picked up a mighty 13 points to ARRG's 3 - and it wasn't even a power jam! With only a single jam into the second period, the score now stood at a nigh-equal

60 ARRG - 58 SVRG

If the away team could have kept that level of play up, it would have been a very different second period. As it was, they seemed to have exhausted themselves for the next 3 jams, neither team scoring anything until the 5th jam.

The 5th jam, however, was worth waiting for, SVRG's Public Enemy picking up a single pass's worth of points, just enough to put the away team in the lead for the first time in the bout. Polly Purgatory continued the theme in the next jam, picking up a pair of points but unable to pass Minnie Riot and Fight Cub (182) to get the complete set.

Obviously, ARRG weren't going to stand for losing without a fight, and Blazin' Phoenix picked up her own pass' worth of points in jam 7, bringing the scores back to a fragile balance at:

64 ARRG : 64 SVRG

Juicy Lucy on the track to score!

Galvanised by their brief experience of being the losing team, Auld Reekie led a fight back in the next five jams, Juicy Lucy, Zillah and Blazin' Phoenix all eking out single pass scores to inch the score back to a more comfortable margin. Jam 8 was a case in point, Fight Cub and Minnie Riot causing Polly Purgatory trouble in the pack while Zillah was safely through (despite an early bit of jammer-on-jammer blocking leaving Polly ahead).

Jam 13 could have been the deciding jam of the bout, Polly Purgatory getting herself sent to the sin-bin, and handing Zillah a power jam. However, before Zillah could do much with her advantage, the jam was called early due to an injury to one of the SVRG players.

After an official time-out for treatment, play resumed with the ARRG power jam still in play, and 15 minutes left in the bout. 

SVRG took full advantage of the power jam, and the depleted ARRG pack, Polly Purgatory lapping the pack multiple times with no real opposition. With a massive 20 point total, the score was utterly reversed, now standing at:

79 ARRG : 87 SVRG

Blazin' Phoenix can't outpace Public Enemy.

Despite Stuttgart Valley taking the knee in the next few jams, the momentum didn't really exist for them. While Blitzkrieg Baby took lead jammer in jam 15, Zillah was so close to her that she couldn't score; the next jam, Blazin' Phoenix found herself in the same situation vis Public Enemy.

Jam 17 finally saw some few points scored, Zillah fighting past SVRG's Titty Twista, and pivot ElliMinate (8) to score a trio of points before Vegas fought her way past Ciderella (-3°C) and Mallory Powers (9mm) at the rear.

With SVRG determined to preserve their lead as long as possible, and ARRG determined to erode it, the final 10 minutes of the bout was a fussilade of short, tightly contested jams, with neither team scoring a significant number of points.  (20 21 22 23 24) On balance, though, the home team had the slight advantage, inexorably grinding down their points deficit (and taking the knee repeatedly to gain the time to do so), until with only 41 seconds left in the bout, the score hung at

93 ARRG : 95 SVRG

Taking the responsibility firmly on her shoulders, team captain Zillah took the jam line for the home team, against SVRG's Vegas. All she had to do was gain lead jammer and pass just 3/4 of the opposing blockers on her first scoring pass to win^*. After a hard fight, she managed the first part, but the away team weren't about to make it easy on her with the second. With Vegas close to starting her own scoring pass, Zillah called the jam at the last possible second, apparently passing her second blocker at about the same time...

The unofficial final score, being checked for the first of three times.

...but the referees didn't seem to agree, the unofficial final score standing at:

94 ARRG : 95 SVRG

With such a close fought final jam, and such a close scoring point at the very end, the referees tripled checked every point, but the final confirmation didn't change anything; SVRG had won the bout by the narrowest of margins!

-

Awards and After-bout.

As usual, Roller Derby continued its tradition as the friendliest of sports, with the traditional post bout hug:

and the traditional post-bout awards, given by each team to their opposite numbers.

Awards

Best Takeout:

Tease The Tiger

Crazylegs

Most Feared:

Polly Purgatory

Danger Mouth

Sin-Bin Queen:

Public Enemy

Juicy Lucy

Best Jammer:

Blitzkrieg Baby

Juicy Lucy

Most Valued Player

Titty Twista

Zillah

^*Passing 2 players wouldn't result in a draw; like tennis, roller derby switches to sudden death jams to decide scoring ties, with both teams playing "lead jammerless" jams until one ends with a points advantage. 

--

Notes and Acknowledgements.

Thanks to the Auld Reekie Roller Girls and Stuttgart Valley Rollergirlz for an excellent game.
Thanks also to the creator of the bout programme, and to announcers Stephen Talking and Fay Bentos.
Also, thanks to ARRG's live bout-tweeter for continuing the ARRG tradition of rapid, detailed play-by-play tweets.

The video and photographs used in this report are all taken by me on a Sony A580 with the kit lens, and no flash. A playlist of video and album of photos from which they are drawn are at:
YouTube Playlist: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLE6AEAE2386064B40
Picasa/Google Photos album: https://picasaweb.google.com/102032801144714237554/ARRGTwistedThistlesVsStuttgartValleyRollergirlz20August2011?authuser=0&feat=directlink
(Also shared on Google+, and a copy on Facebook)

This bout report, and all media therein are licensed CC-BY (Creative Commons : Attribution), which means that they are completely free to reuse and remix as long as I am given a credit as the author. You don't have to ask permission first as long as you do that.

As always, this report, and any inaccuracies within it, are purely my own. All corrections and comments are gratefully received.

Bout Report: Jamming at the Fringes: ARRG Cannon Belles vs GRG Maiden Grrders 6 Aug 2011

In order to let more people know about the magic that is Roller Derby, Auld Reekie Roller Girls have worked with the Edinburgh Fringe to offer two bouts under the Fringe banner this year.
The first of these was a rematch between ARRG's B Team, the Cannon Belles and Glasgow's equivalent, the Maiden Grrders. Around a year ago, when the two teams last faced each other, the Maiden Grrders were triumphant. This time, with new skaters on both teams, would ARRG manage to reclaim Edinburgh's honour?

(The second Fringe bout is on the 20th of August, and features the Auld Reekie Roller Girls Twisted Thistles vs Stuttgart Valley's finest. There's still time to book tickets, so don't miss out!)

Every bout starts with a skateout (it's in the rules!), and this was no different:
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpXHTtyjCgM

Period 1

GRG's Fightin' Torque starts the bout
in the worst possible way.

If the Maiden Grrders wanted to replay their performance last year, then a good opening jam would set them in good stead for the bout. That wasn't what happened, GRG Jammer Fightin' Torque (531) getting herself sent off in the process of leaving the pack first, handing ARRG's Kaos Moss the lead, and a Power Jam first thing in the game! Despite their best efforts, the Grrders couldn't stop the Belles picking up 15 points by the time Torque returned to the field.

Things continued in a bad way for the away team for the next 5 jams, almost one-third of the first period! Perhaps the Meadowbank's floor was slippier than they were used to (something which previously caused them problems away against Stuttgart Valley), but in the second jam, GRG's Sykes (360°) managed to hand over another Power Jam to the home team for track cutting (only to have ARRG's Skinn'er Alive (85) hand the power jam back to GRG for track cutting herself... and Sykes get herself sent back off soon after^*).
In the third jam, continuing with Sykes still in the sin-bin, ARRG newbie Sharkée (273) proved herself worthy of the team by picking up another 14 points before Sykes returned to the track...

Can you believe this is Sharkée's first bout?

...all this trend leading to the Maiden Grrders taking their first Time-Out of the bout, to discuss how to stop themselves from haemorrhaging points so rapidly.

Venus Velocity (obscured) and Jackash hold the back of the pack.

Whatever they'd discussed, it was a more aggressively defensive GRG pack that returned in the 4th jam, which began with a lot of falls on both sides. While ARRG's Queenie Ville (1) managed to attain lead jammer, GRG's Mazzy Chaos (R10T) blocked her down to the track on her scoring pass, limiting the loss to a more acceptable 3 points.
Similarly, while Kaos Moss managed to get lead jammer in the 5th jam, Grrders captain Venus Velocity (666) and vice Jackash (911) proved impossible to pass for score, limiting her to a single point.

Unfortunately for the Grrders, it all went wrong again in jam 6, ARRG's Debris Harry (83) handily passing the pack, while GRG's Peggy Su-icide proved unable to escape the strong Belle's blocking team of vice Crotch Lightning (T10) and Shootin' Annie (.45). Debris picked up a grand slam before Peggy finally won through, with the points total after 6 jams finally standing:

51 ARRG : 0 GRG

Danger Mouth takes exception to Torque trying to pass her.

Only now, with nearing half of the first period gone, did the Maiden Grrders catch a break. At the very start of the 7th jam, Skinn'er Alive collected enough penalties to get herself sent to the sin-bin, handing Fightin' Torque the first full power jam for GRG. The Belles didn't make it easy for the GRG jammer, but in the end, though, Torque fought though, smiling, to 14 points.

Next jam, GRG's Jess E Ska (31) did almost as well without a power jam to help her, Venus Velocity , Mazzy Chaos and Tarcenic and Old Laces (41) proving enough to stop ARRG's Crotch Lightning from escaping the pack too quickly. Tarce even found the time to help Jess through the pack as well...

This time it was a shaken Auld Reekie who called a time-out, amid chanting from the GRG end of the audience.

Mazzy Chaos and Lola Bruises sacrifice themselves
for the greater good.

When play resumed, it was terrifying ARRG newbie Sharkée who knocked the fight back out of the Grrders again, outpacing Fightin' Torque through the pack to 4 points gain.

With their momentum slowing, the tenth jam completed the reverse for GRG, jammer Peggy Su-icide handing ARRG yet another Power Jam (possibly for her involvement in a messy block with ARRG's Danger Mouth (55) ). Kaos Moss knew what to do with the situation, and despite the best efforts of Mazzy Chaos and Lola Bruises (96), she increased the Belles' lead by another 10 points before the power jam ended.

The eleventh and twelfth jams saw a slight wrinkle in the home team's dominance, Skinn'er Alive exiting the pack first, but not lead jammer (due to track cutting), letting GRG's Jess E Ska call the jam on her exit; and then ARRG's Sharkée showing her first hint of mortality, failing to pass Venus Velocity and Mazzy Chaos' wall on her scoring pass.

With little time left in the period, the score now stood at:

69 ARRG : 27 GRG

The Maiden Grrders had already shown they were capable of great things earlier in the period; with ARRG faltering again, could they repeat the performance?

Jess E Ska shows how you pass Queenie Ville (pivot)

Apparently, yes! In the 13th jam of the bout, Peggy Su-icide effortlessly threaded through the centre of the pack, while Debris Harry found GRG's Bashin' Berserker (83) and Coco Pox (76) almost impossible to pass at the front. The ARRG jammer finally won through, only to be sent to the sin-bin for track cutting, throwing a power jam situation GRG's way. Unfortunately for the away team, Peggy had also been having a terrible time passing the ARRG blockers on her scoring pass, only managing when 2 of them ended up in the sin-bin along with their jammer... just in time for the end of the jam.

This did mean that the 14th jam started with Debris Harry still in the sin-bin, and the Grrders took the knee to maximise jammer Jess E Ska's scoring time. Winning past ARRG pivot Queenie Ville (1) for lead jammer, Jess was on track for a big score, and team mates Venus Velocity and Lola Bruises helped things along, keeping the ARRG jammer unable to score until the end of the jam.

Keeping the momentum going, and with only enough time for 2 jams left, Fightin' Torque fought her way through to lead jammer (despite being blocked into the sin-bin bench by Crotch Lightning (T10) ), in a power-jam situation thanks to Skinn'er Alive getting herself sent off. Despite aggressive blocking from Queenie Ville and Danger Mouth (the latter earning a trip to the sin-bin), Torque picked up another 9 points for the away team before the ARRG jammer returned to the track.

And now, it was time for the final jam of the period. After slow start to allow Sykes out of the sin-bin, Peggy Su-icide looked like continuing the last-minute GRG fight-back, gaining lead jammer and a comfortable lead on ARRG's Kaos Moss. Her scoring pass was another matter, ARRG's Miss Collie Check knocking her to the ground right at the start (at roughly the time Kaos Moss was completing her initial pass), setting the tone for the next 20 seconds ... which was roughly as long as it took the ARRG jammer to circle all the way around the pack and complete her scoring pass effortlessly. Getting up from the track again, Peggy called the jam to limit the damage, but too too late.

Going into half-time, the score had slipped back to

73 ARRG : 50 GRG

Half-time provided a chance for the audience to go and sample the ARRG Vendor Village, featuring (along with the traditional t-shirts and bake sale) the chance to win a cake by guessing its weight. All proceeds from the cake guessing feature went to Team Scotland's funds to send them to the Roller Derby World Cup in December.

Period 2


From the first seconds of the second period, you'd have thought that we were at the start of the first period again, ARRG jammer Kaos Moss exiting the pack quickly (although without lead jammer), whilst leaving Fightin' Torque trapped between blockers Danger Mouth and Queenie Ville. Torque also failed to get lead jammer, despite help from Jackash, so the jam ran to the full time, both jammers picking up a single pass's worth of points.

Danger Mouth and Sunny Sheeba: Blockers extraordinaré!

That was obviously just a practise for the second jam of the period, where everything went perfectly for the home team; Skinn'er Alive completing multiple grand slam passes whilst Danger Mouth and Queenie Ville kept GRG's Jess E Ska safely locked up in the pack. 10 more points to ARRG, although at the cost of several blockers sent to the sin-bin.

Keen to capitalise on a numbers advantage in the pack, the Maiden Grrders took a knee into jam 3.

Even ARRG's Sharkée couldn't pass a pack this heavily weighted against her, and her efforts got her sent to the sin-bin for track cutting. Sykes, meanwhile, jamming, had already gained lead jammer status and began to rack up the points in the power jam she'd been handed.

This is not a position Danger Mouth finds herself in often.

Once the pack returned to a more even weighting, it was Sykes' turn to get herself sent off (in a repeat of last period) for back-blocking against troublesome ARRG blocker Sunny Sheeba (33). With  Sharkée released back onto the track, ARRG picked up a couple of points before the jam ended, with Sykes still in the box.

Taking the knee into the remaining power jam time in the 4th, Queenie Ville jammed up a nice scoring pass before Sykes reentered play and she called it (from the floor, after a heavy shoulder-and-hip block from Venus Velocity).
4 Jams in, the score now stood at:

93 ARRG : 66 GRG

the away team's points disadvantage starting to widen again.

Mazzy Chaos attempts to whip Torque to victory.

The Grrders started the next bout slowly, splitting the ARRG blockers in two with a strong wall. As soon as the jammers were released, the GRG wall took to the inside track, trapping the Belles' Kaos Moss and opening up the outside line for Fightin' Torque to head along to the front of the pack. Kaos picked up what looked like a back-block major almost immediately, handing a power jam to Torque. As before, just facing a power jam didn't make it easy to score against the impressive ARRG pack, with Torque being made to fight for her scoring pass through a pretty fast pack. Nevertheless, she picked up a single grand slam before the ARRG jammer returned to the track and forced her to call it.

Obviously keen to keep the momentum up, the GRG opened the sixth jam on the knee, allowing jammer Peggy Su-icide to zip through the inside line to take lead jammer almost as soon as was possible. ARRG's Miss Collie Check wasn't far behind, however, having taken the slightly longer outside path with a similar lack of opposition, and she quickly outpaced the GRG jammer, forcing her to call it with no score for either side.

Determined to continue to press (especially with terrifying ARRG blocker Danger Mouth safely in the sin-bin), the Grrders took a knee into the seventh jam as well, Sykes eventually winning past determined positional blocking from captain Lilo & Stitches and pivot Miss Collie Check to exit the pack ahead of the Belles' Sharkée... but without lead jammer status due to her final pass being unclean. Fighting through the GRG front line, Sharkée did gain lead jammer, but didn't call the jam until Sykes had managed to pick up a single point.

Almost half-way through the second period, the scores now stood at:

93 ARRG : 72 GRG

With the scores just a good power-jam apart, the bout looked increasingly unsafe for the Cannon Belles.

Yes, it's Danger Mouth being impassible, again.

The Belles knew it, too, taking a distinctly defensive approach to the next jam, Queenie Villie and Sonny Sheeba proving an almost impassible rear wall against the Grrders' Fighting Torque, whilst their Skinn'er Alive dodged past Venus Velocity at the front to take lead jammer. By the time the GRG jammer escaped the pack, with Lola Bruises help, Skinn'er Alive was completing her scoring pass. Naturally, Torque didn't get a chance to score before the jam was called.

Sharkée fairing rather better than Peggy Su-icide, for the moment

Jam 9 saw a very slow moving pack, with more internal jostling for position than forward momentum, prove difficult for both jammers - GRG's Peggy Su-icide faced with Shootin' Annie right at the back of the pack, and ARRG's Sharkée facing Coco Pox nearer the front. Despite both being blocked to the track, it was the ARRG jammer who escaped the back first, although with less of a lead than she would have liked. On the scoring pass, the GRG blockers proved an equally obdurate defence, eventually forcing her to call the jam from the centre of the pack. Still, those 4 points proved enough for ARRG to break the triple figure barrier, the score now, with 13 minutes in the bout, standing

101 ARRG : 72 GRG

And, after a time out for the home team, things just kept getting better for them.

Venus shows off her excellent positional blocking skills.

Jam 10 saw GRG's Fightin' Torque trapped at the back of the pack behind a strong ARRG wall along with Sykes. While ARRG's Kaos Moss was similarly unable to pass Venus Velocity at the head, the Belles' control of the pace let them put her out of play, handing their jammer the lead. Meanwhile, Torque managed to get herself sent off, still having been unable to pass the pack for the first time. With a power jam situation, the Belles made use again of their pack control, splitting the pack to free their jammer from determined blocking. Despite the ARRG domination, GRG's Jackash perhaps got a tiny piece of recompense, blocking Kaos Moss down to the track just before the jam ended.

Lilo & Stitches, Crotch Lightning and Miss Collie Check goating GRG's Scara-Leigh to split the pack
and free jammer Kaos Moss from the Maiden Grrders' wall.

Torque relieves some tension on Skinn'er Alive

Starting her jam from the sin-bin in the eleventh jam, Fightin' Torque had no chance of catching an unstoppable Skinn'er Alive dodging her way through a dispersed pack to lead jammer. Scoring once again proved a little trickier for the ARRG jammer, with Coco Pox and Mazzy Chaos proving an impassible wall at the front of the pack, although with Torque yet to really enter the rear of the pack past an equally impassible Queenie Ville, she had all the time in the world to do so. Torque being stuck at the back of the back proved an unexpected advantage on Skinn'er's second scoring pass, her blocking proving more effective than anyone else's at holding her rival jammer at bay.

The Cannon Belles continued to demonstrate their skill in the next jam, captain Lilo & Stitches and Wild Zero hanging around at the back of the pack to snag GRG jammer Peggy Su-icide whilst pivot Crotch Lighting knocked GRG's Venus Velocity off balance just long enough for Sharkée to sneak past her into lead jammer position. Peggy Su-icide wasn't far behind, however, and the ARRG jammer had only enough time to snag a couple of points before she had to call it.

Sykes, leading the final 8 minutes of GRG fight back...

With only 8 minutes left in the bout, the Maiden Grrders would have to start any last minute resurgence right now if they were to have a chance of pulling a win out of the bag.

Lucky for them, Jam 13 seemed to be just what they needed, although it didn't seem that way from the start; Miss Collie Cheque, jamming, slipping past the entirety of the GRG blockers without them even noticing, took lead jammer while the Grrders' Sykes was still fighting her way into the rear.

On the ARRG jammer's scoring pass, however, she picked up a trip to the sin-bin instead of passing Lola Bruises. With a power jam fairly late in the jam, the GRG pulled out all the stops to help Sykes pick up their much needed points. ARRG's Danger Mouth and Sonny Sheeba proved their usual effective selves, however, and the GRG only picked up a single grand slam pass before the jam ended.
Still, it was perhaps the spot of hope the away team needed...

...and for a moment in jam 14 it looked like it would be the start of a glorious fight back, Fightin' Torque slipping through on the inside line (from a GRG knee) only to be unceremoniously blocked to the floor by ARRG pivot Crotch Lightning. Before Torque had even regained her feet, ARRG's Skinn'er Alive had already shot through the pack to take lead jammer, with a tiny whip from Lilo & Stitches to send her on her way. As previously, the Maiden Grrders proved more effective at obstructing the Belles jammer on her scoring pass, with Venus Velocity, Tarcenic and Old Laces and Mazzy Chaos forming a fast moving wall at the front of the pack; however, with ARRG's Queenie Ville and Crotch Lightning proving equally impossible for Torque to pass at the rear, the home team still managed to pick up a good handful of points before the jam had to be called.

After an incredibly long official time-out, jam 15 began with the Cannon Belles severely outnumbered on track - only Queenie Ville and Danger Mouth versus a full set of Maiden Grrders. That didn't make it any easier for Peggy Su-icide to pass them, the two ARRG blockers taking it in turn to hip check her to the track, whilst Miss Collie Check found herself unable to pass Jackash, Venus Velocity and Lola Bruises' wall at the pack front. Winning her way through to lead jammer after Danger Mouth was knocked over, and Queenie Ville sent to the sin-bin (thus leaving only Lilo & Stitches, fresh from the sin-bin, to stop her), Peggy Su-icide took her chance to score points with both hands, managing a grand slam (Collie Check still trapped behind Lola Bruises), and a second pass after the ARRG jammer finally won free. 9 points more for the away team, but this return to form was a little too late for more than honour.

With the 16th jam also the final jam of the bout, the Maiden Grrders would have to score 42 points in a single jam to take the lead. All that was left was to put up a good show. With only two blockers in play from each team, there was every possibility of a high score for at least one team... and that team looked like being the Maiden Grrders, with jammer Jess E Ska jinking around Shootin' Annie and a downed Crotch Lighting (side-checked by Mazzy Chaos) to take lead jammer, with Kaos Moss walled out by Sykes and Mazzy.

Not the final score...
(as you can see from the deliberating zebras)

By the time the GRG jammer began her scoring pass, however, Queenie Ville and Lilo & Stitches had returned from the sin-bin, and they proceeded to make life very difficult for her indeed. Finally winning past some exceptional positional blocking by Venus Velocity (but only from the blocker ending up out of play once more), Kaos Moss eventually forced the jam to be called, leaving the final score (after some extensive deliberation):

126 ARRG : 91 GRG

Conclusions & Awards

All in all, this was a closely-matched bout between two excellent teams. The final point difference in the scores was less than the massive lead gained by the Cannon Belles in the first third of the first period, where the Maiden Grrders seemed to have trouble with the track surface, so the rest of the bout was actually pretty closely matched. ARRG, in particular, seem to have picked up some extremely effective new talent, with  Sharkée a particularly striking performer (especially for her first bout!).

After the bout, the group photo:

and the awards:

For Best Jammer:

GRG's Jess E Ska 

and

ARRG's Miss Collie Check

For Best Take-Out

GRG's Venus Velocity (perhaps for taking out a ref spectacularly? :D)

and

ARRG's Danger Mouth (well, she did so many of them...)

For Most Feared

GRG's Lola Bruises

and

ARRG's Shootin' Annie

For Sin-Bin Queen

GRG's Sykes (mostly when jamming)

and

ARRG's Queenie Ville

and, For MVP

GRG's Fightin' Torque

and
ARRG's Lilo & Stitches

Belles' Captain Lilo & Stitches, happy MVP awardee.

Grrders' Fightin' Torque, incredulous MVP awardee.

^* A point of order here, as the second time Sykes was sent off, Skinn'er Alive was sent back on immediately, which shouldn't have happened unless she really had served her full time in the sin-bin at that point.

Notes and Acknowledgements.
Thanks to the Auld Reekie Roller Girls and Glasgow Roller Girls for an excellent game.
Thanks also to the creator of the bout programme, and to announcers Helliverence and Fay Bentos.
Also, thanks to ARRG's Crazylegs for keeping up the tradition of Maul Flanders in extremely rapid, detailed bout tweeting.

The video and photographs used in this report are all taken by me on a Sony A580 with the kit lens, and no flash. A playlist of video and album of photos from which they are drawn are at:
YouTube Playlist: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC10BB8D9787F62E5
Picasa/Google Photos album: https://picasaweb.google.com/102032801144714237554/AuldReekieRollerGirlsCannonBellesVsGlasgowRollerGirlsMaidenGrrders6August2011?authuser=0&feat=directlink(Also shared on Google+, and a copy on Facebook)

This bout report, and all media therein are licensed CC-BY (Creative Commons : Attribution), which means that they are completely free to reuse and remix as long as I am given a credit as the author. You don't have to ask permission first as long as you do that.

As always, this report, and any inaccuracies within it, are purely my own. All corrections and comments are gratefully received.

Bout Report: Glasgow Roller Girls: Intraleague Season 2. Bad Omens vs Death Stars 30 July 2011

As well as playing other leagues around the country and the world, Glasgow Roller Girls also have their own intraleague tournaments each year (they'd not really be much of a "league" if they didn't, really ;) ), their three league teams - Hells' Belles, Bad Omens and Death Stars - playing each other in a round-robin tournament.

The 30th of July saw the first bout in the 2011 season, previous season winners, the Bad Omens (red and gold, ominous (natch) crow and moon logo) facing off against the Death Stars (blue and black, powers drawn from a mysterious force that binds the universe together^*). With both teams having had a little reshuffle after the previous season, would the Omens still triumph over a reinvigorated Death Stars?
There was only one way to find out:
Skateout!

With a win by acclamation on the skateout, the Omens looked good for a win in the bout itself...

Period 1:

Chemikill Hazard (LD50) keeps Marshall Lawless (42)
in the pack.

...and starting the period confidently, Omens Jammer Meg 4 Mercy (4) certainly didn't diminish that impression, teammate and pivot Chemikill Hazard (LD50) blocking Death Stars jammer Marshall Lawless (42) at the last moment, and allowing Meg to fight her way to lead jammer and 5 points.

While Marla Mayhem (13) managed to garner a pair of points for the Death Stars (racing to the lead with lovely blocking from her team), before Hardcore Prawn caught up with her, it was the Omens who scored a full 4 point pass in the third jam, Jess E Ska (31) eventually fighting her way through a very strongly defensive pack (for both teams) ahead of the Death Stars' Fightin' Torque.

Marla gets by with a little help from her friends.

The pendulum swung imperfectly back again for jam 4, Marshall Lawless making use of a lovely open outside line provided by her blockers to grab lead jammer, but not far enough ahead of Meg 4 Mercy to score more than a pair of points (especially after a crushing block from Omens pivot Lucky Hateball (8) ).
Continuing the trend, Marla Mayhem once again grabbed lead jammer in the 5th jam, but was almost immediately blocked, forcing her back into the pack behind Omens captain Haberbashery (40) and Chemikill Hazard. With Hardcore Prawn (88mph) already free of the pack, there was nothing to do but call it.

Jammer party in the Sin-bin.!

By now the frustration was probably getting to the Death Stars, but it was the Omens who made the first big mistake in the 6th jam, Jess E Ska getting herself sent to the sin-bin for track-cutting passing Venus Velocity (666). With the potential for an early power-jam, and two Omens blockers also in the sin-bin, it seemed that the jam couldn't be better for Fightin' Torque... until she almost immediately got herself sent off as well. With no jammer having legally passed the pack, there was no lead jammer, so the jam ran to the full 2 minutes for the first time in the bout, with the final score, 6 jams in, at:

13 Bad Omens : 08 Death Stars

The scores pretty low for this point in a period, anything could still happen, and jam 7 showed that the Death Stars really could punch at the same weight as their opponents. Whilst the Omens tried to waste time with the pack moving at a crawling pace, Death Stars jammer Marshall Lawless effortlessly weaved through the opposition to nab lead jammer, with Viper (29) , Sykes (360°) and Whisky Galore (11) keeping Omens' Meg 4 Mercy firmly behind their wall, and then Lola Bruises (96, 69 in programme) blocking out of bounds to take her down on Marshall Lawless' second pass. Six points was just enough to bring the score to:

13 Bad Omens : 14 Death Stars

placing the Death Stars in the lead for the first time in the bout.

Oates realises that Marla might need a bit of help here...

The Bad Omens didn't seem to phased though, taking the knee in the 8th jam to help Hardcore Prawn get them back into the lead as fast as possible. Despite opposition from Venus Velocity, the Prawn took Lead Jammer quickly, whilst the Omens' Hateball and Bashin' Berserker (83) kept the Death Stars' Marla back in the pack, despite assistance from Wild Oates (3).
Three points later, and the Death Stars' slim lead had reversed again; pressing their momentum, the  Omens took knees in the next two jams as well, Jess E Ska and Meg 4 Mercy each doing their bit to pull up the Omens' lead once again.
So, by the start of the 11th jam of the bout, with half of the first period gone, the score stood at:

24 Bad Omens : 15 Death Stars

Fightin' Torque forced off track (and soon to be into
the sin-bin.)

A time-out for the Death Stars later, the 11th jam saw them launch a second counter-attack, Lola Bruises knocking Hardcore Prawn off the track, while Marla Mayhem made her way into the lead jammer position. Four points later, and it was looking like another jam like that could put the Death Stars in the lead once again.
Sadly, it was not to be, the 12th jam seeing Fightin' Torque sent to the sin-bin for track-cutting while trying to pass a strong Omens' wall. With a power-jam handed to them, Jess E Ska was quite capable of capitalising, lapping the pack several times despite some strong blocking from the Death Stars (and a final, parting, somewhat illegal block from Wild Oates, which was still great to watch...).

The momentum back with the Bad Omens, the 13th jam continued the swing their way, with a depleted Death Stars pack unable to prevent Meg 4 Mercy taking lead jammer immediately, although with a whip-assisted Marshall Lawless not far behind.

Lead Jammmeerrrr!

Pressing the time again, taking the knee, the Omens failed to stop Marla Mayhem from fighting her way through the pack at the start of jam 14, whilst Hardcore Prawn was kept behind for a time. 3 points for the Death Stars followed, could this be their fight back?

The Bad Omens clearly didn't think so, taking the knee yet again to press their attack in two successive jams; first, Jess E Ska picking up a couple of points before being knocked to the track by Marshall Lawless herself on her scoring pass.
In the second, Meg 4 Mercy was handed a power jam, with Death Stars' Marla Mayhem sent to the sin-bin at the very start of the jam. A skilfully slowed pack, and Hateball and Haberbashery making room on the outside line, helped the Omens jammer to an impressive 15 points before Marla returned to the track.

With that disruptive jam, the score stood at:

55 Bad Omens : 22 Death Stars

the worst points differential for the Death Stars since the bout began.

Hateball and Haberbashery make room, make room!

And, as might be expected in this situation, the Omens were keen to press the attack, taking a knee and putting Hardcore Prawn out to jam, in Jam 17 . The Death Stars were having none of it, however, Prawn failing to pass Wild Oates and Fightin' Torque's wall at the head of the pack until Marla had fought her own way past Hateball at the tail. Exiting the pack together, it was Marla who administered the final block, knocking the Omens jammer down to the track (and behind the pack again). With her lead, Marla managed a complete pass before the jam was called (apparently by Prawn, who by rights should have been lead jammer - although it took several seconds for the referees to agree if that was the case).

Hopeful that this could be the start of something, and keen to gain more points before the end of the period, the Death Stars took a knee into jam 18 (whilst the Omens' Jess E Ska cougared^** off). Despite this, the Omens' Meg 4 Mercy just pipped Marshall Lawless through the pack; but not with a clean pass, giving Lawless Lead Jammer status.
Unable to pass Meg with much of a lead, Lawless called the jam, no-score.

With only a few minutes left in the period, jam 19
saw the Death Stars taking the knee once again, only for Hardcore Prawn to show why she gets to be jammer, effortlessly racing through the pack. Once she got lead jammer status, however, she was content to loaf a little, wasting time while the Death Stars' Sykes caught up with her. With their lead, the Omens didn't want the Death Stars having any time for last second resurgences...

...and indeed, thanks to the time wasting, the next jam had to be the final jam of the period. Perhaps just the knowledge that this was their last chance was what spurred the Death Stars onto a great final jam, Marla Mayhem streaking through the pack to take lead jammer, whilst the Omens' Jess E Ska seemed unable to pass first Whisky Galore, and then, trapped at the back of the pack, Jackash (911). Picking up multiple grand slam passes, it looked like this was going to be a massive score for Marla, until a block from either Jackash or Fightin' Torque sent Jess E Ska to the track... where she didn't get up.
As soon as the referees noticed, the jam was halted whilst the medics in attendance did their stuff (all the players taking a knee). Luckily, it seemed that there was no significant damage and, with the jam called as Jess E Ska hobbled off track (not permanently injured, as she returned in the second period), the score stood at:

56 Bad Omens : 42 Death Stars

a tremendous come-back right as half-time arrived!

GRG Announcer Helliverence betrays his true sympathies at half-time...

Period 2:
With such a massive resurgence at the end of the first period, the Death Stars were anxious to continue their fight-back as soon as possible. As a result, it was they who took the knee for the first four jams in a row, launching jammers Fightin Torque [first and fourth jams], Marshall Lawless and Marla Mayhem through the pack as soon as each jam began. In the event, it was the Omens who profited most from the fast start, with Chemikill Hazard fighting through the pack in the second jam to pick up 4 points.
This was the best that it got for either team, however, with good blocking from both teams, and evenly matched jammers leading to a lot of no-score jams called early.

Chemikill Hazard (LD50) waits for Hateball (8) to plough the Death Stars out of her way. 

And this trend continued on for a further 3 jams, a very slow start on the 5th jam called by the Omens' Hardcore Prawn exiting the pack after Marshall Lawless but with lead-jammer, another early call by the Death Stars' Marla Mayhem unable to outpace Meg 4 Mercy in the 6th, and an early lead by Hardcore Prawn again in the 7th (thanks to a fall by Chemikill Hazard) garnering only 2 points thanks to a shove from Viper and Wild Oates as she passed them.

With the scores after 7 jams hardly any different, at:

64 Bad Omens : 47 Death Stars

it was only now that the trailing team got to continue their fight-back.

Meg 4 Mercy gets up just to sit down again (in the sin-bin).

With the Omen's Meg 4 Mercy sent off for her involvement in a pileup, the Death Stars took advantage of the power jam to lower their points deficit by 10 points, good pack control from Jackash, pivot Venus Velocity, Scara-Leigh (616) and captain Whiskey Galore enabling them to take Chemikill Hazard as a goat and really pull the pack's speed down for Marshall Lawless to lap.

...allowing Marshall Lawless to take Lead Jammer and
exploit the power jam!

The fight-back continued into the 9th jam, with the Death Stars' Marla managing to get in a single scoring pass ahead of Hardcore Prawn, and, despite resistance in the 10th (with Fightin' Torque blocked out from significant scoring by pivot Haberbashery), a knee helped Marshall Lawless retain the momentum into the 11th, with another pass' worth of points, just enough to bring the score to:

67 Bad Omens : 68 Death Stars

the Death Stars tasting the lead for a second time, with only 15 minutes left in the bout!

Venus and Lola make it hard for Prawn once...

...twice...

...three times.

Alas, as with the last time, the taste of victory was cruelly snatched away in the very next jam, Marla Mayhem managing to get herself sent off passing through the pack, handing the Omens' Hardcore Prawn lead jammer, and a power jam to boot. Determined not to let victory slip too far from their grasp, the Death Stars made life hard for Prawn, pivot Venus Velocity and Lola Bruises particularly persistent in taming the Omens' jammer. As a result, it was a particularly low scoring power jam, with only a single scoring pass before Marla returned to the track and Prawn called it.



Except that Marla started the next jam from the sin-bin, with the Omens taking a knee to give their jammer, Meg 4 Mercy the best possible time advantage. Just as Marla was entering the track, however, Death Stars blockers Sykes and Viper were entering it, leaving Wild Oates as the only blocker on the track for the team! Despite the advantage, Meg played it safe, calling the jam as soon as Marla completed her first pass, picking up 4 points for the Omens.

Wild Oates (3) and Marla vs the entire Omens
(Death Stars watching from the Sin-bin :D )

Marshall Lawless just about to get Lead Jammer, despite
the Death Stars being outnumbered 2:1!

With the Death Stars pack still depleted at the start of the 14th jam, the Omens took yet another knee, hoping to exploit the situation further. However, it was the Death Stars' Marshall Lawless who burst through the pack first to grab lead jammer, with Omens' Prawn in hot pursuit. Despite the initial lead, Prawn's speed made the difference, catching up enough to grab a single point before the Death Stars jammer called it.

While events looked like they were starting to swing back the Bad Omens' way, there was still little more than a single pass between the scores, so there was all to play for going into the 15th jam of the period. With the Omens taking the knee once more, Meg 4 Mercy exploded through the pack to take lead jammer within the first few seconds. Unfortunately, it didn't take a lot longer than that for the Death Stars' Fightin' Torque to leave the track entirely, headed for the sin-bin. The Omens' Tarcenic and Bashin' Berserker (83) were quick to take Wild Oates as a goat, slowing the pack for Meg to pick up a nice 20 point haul.
Now, with less than 10 minutes left in the bout, the Omens looked like they'd reconsolidated their lead, with the score back to:

97 Bad Omens : 71 Death Stars

Oates explains to Jess E Ska that it's polite to ask first before
overtaking.

Marla Mayhem tried to lead a fight back in the 16th , gaining lead jammer, only for Hardcore Prawn to do to her what she'd done to Lawless only a few jams previously, catching her up and scoring points before Marla could call the jam. Similarly, in the following jam, with Jess E Ska's attempt at passing the pack thwarted by Wild Oates, the Death Stars' Fightin' Torque looked like she'd be able to score a nice set of points, but was stuck with only one, thanks to an exceptional rear defence from the Omens.
Only in the 18th jam did the Death Stars finally make their fight-back stick, with Marla managing sufficient lead over Meg 4 Mercy to pick up a single complete pass.

The Omens weren't about to see their lead eroded again, however, entering the 19th jam (with only 6 minutes on the clock) on their knee, with Hardcore Prawn launching herself from the jam line at full speed... and straight into a determined Venus Velocity and Lola Bruises. Despite being knocked down, Prawn still fought her way through to lead jammer ahead of the Death Stars Fightin' Torque, and managed to score a couple of points before a second whack from the Death Stars' Whiskey Galore hurled her off the track and into a wall, where she failed to get up. With the jam called by the referees for medical attention, everyone was relieved to see Hardcore Prawn eventually get up and hobble her way to the bench.

Once play resumed, the Death Stars had opportunity to restart their counter-attack when handed a power jam in jam 20 (literally - Omens' jammer Meg 4 Mercy being sent off for blocking with hands), but the Omens' Lucky Hateball and Chemikill Hazard proved a tough challenge for Marshall Lawless in her initial pass, taking up enough time that she only had the time for a single scoring pass before Meg returned to the track.
After a time-out for Death Stars strategy, play resumed with the score at:

102 Bad Omens : 84 Death Stars

a lead, but not an unsurmountable one, given a little luck.
Unfortunately, the Force was not on the Death Stars side, as taking the knee into jam 21 only helped the Omens' Meg 4 Mercy get Lead Jammer a little faster, with Marla Mayhem having to settle for chasing her down and forcing a no-score. Jam 22 was almost a repeat, the only wrinkle being that Meg failed to get lead jammer on her exit, making it even easier for Marla to end the jam when she made her escape.
And so, in the end, it came down to this, the final jam. With Marshall Lawless jamming for the Death Stars this time, Marla Mayhem got to revenge herself against Meg 4 Mercy in the blocking role, helping to give Lawless a significant lead for scoring. Unfortunately, there was only time enough for a single pass, Hateball and Chemikill Hazard keeping the pack pretty fast at the head... leaving the score at the final whistle:

102 Bad Omens : 88 Death Stars

and an exceptionally hard-fought bout by both teams!


Awards:
After the bout, there's the love:

Derby love, post-bout. Don't try this during...

The Winners (they're all winners, even announcer Helliverence!)

and the awards for Most Valued Player (awarded to a member of each team by the other team).
For the Death Stars, Marla Mayhem won MVP for blocking and jamming excellently,
while, for the Bad Omens, Chemikill Hazard was the player the Death Stars most feared.

This time, however, there was also a surprise in store, the members of the previous seasons' Bad Omens line-up being assembled to win the newly-instated GRG Intraleague Trophy:

Team Scotland (and GRG) photographer Dave McAleavy captures the Bad Omens (season 1) and their new shiny thing.

^*Duct tape, obviously.
^**"Cougaring" refers to the process of deliberately gaining a 4th minor penalty in order to get sent to the sin-bin and clear your status. Usually done at the start of a jam by deliberately lining up behind the pivot line as a blocker (and almost always done because the player wants to be able to jam next, and therefore needs to have a clean slate to jam more effectively).

----

Thanks to the Glasgow Roller Girls for an excellent game.
Thanks also to the creator of the bout programme (I'm guess it was Hateball, but it doesn't say), and to announcers Helliverence and the other guy whose name I didn't catch.

The video and photographs used in this report are all taken by me on a Sony A580 with the kit lens, and no flash. A playlist of video and album of photos from which they are drawn are at:
YouTube Playlist: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLF63D920227A39C8A
Picasa/Google Photos album: https://picasaweb.google.com/102032801144714237554/GlasgowRollerGirlsIntraleagueSeason2BadOmensVsDeathStars30711?authuser=0&feat=directlink   (Also shared on Google+, and a copy on Facebook)

This bout report, and all media therein are licensed CC-BY (Creative Commons : Attribution), which means that they are completely free to reuse and remix as long as I am given a credit as the author. You don't have to ask permission first as long as you do that.

As always, this report, and any inaccuracies within it, are purely my own. All corrections and comments are gratefully received.