Dundee have been improving dramatically themselves, and the result, a 226:36 win for the home team, was no poor reflection on the skills of the Parma Violents.
[The large amount of video available for this bout renders it impractical to add links to all the jams. Interested viewers can use the link to the YouTube playlist at the bottom of this report to access the uploaded video, which covers roughly 2/3 of the bout.]
Period 1
The Tayzers dominated the first period, with the very first jam showing the main problem: Psychomilly (69), jamming, effortlessly made her way through the centre of a pack controlled by her teammates, while the Violent's Para-Lethal-Maul (999) had to fight every step of the way. A slow call by Dundee still allowed Fierce Valley a single point for that jam, however, putting the score at
4 Dundee : 1 Fierce Valley
Exploiting the Parma Violents' first-time nerves, Dundee proceeded to take lead jammer in the next two jams, finding gaps in the away teams' slightly loose walls, and containing slightly hesitant jammers for just long enough for their team to score.Finally, in jam 4, a misjudged apex leap sent Dr Carnage (T800) to the sin bin, handing a power-jam (and the first lead jammer for her team) to Fierce Valley's Rufi-Ohh (911). Some excellent waterfalling at the lead of the pack by Viva La Derby (42), Cilla Block (24) and Go Go Gadget Skates (99) locked Rufi up until the pack was intentionally broken, however, and the Violents' inability to slow the pack to help her score meant that Fierce Valley picked up 2 points for a minute's hard work by their jammer.
Fierce Valley were not completely outclassed, however; in jam 6, a good piece of truck-and-trailer blocking by Lady Feerocious (23) and Hey Ho Lets Jo! (92) kept Dundee's Cilla Block without a strong lead against the Violents' Zombette (25), who proceeded to gain on the Tayzers' jammer, forcing a no-score call.
Still, despite their fight improving, scoring opportunities were still scarce for the challengers, and things only got worse when Dundee's Psychomilly found herself with a power-jam in jam 9, thanks to Lady Feerocious getting herself sent to the penalty box with a track cut. Proving why she's a Team Scotland reserve once more, Psychomilly proceeded to cut through the pack like a knife through butter, more than doubling the home teams score with a 23 point jam.With Unprotected Bex obviously confident that her pack could handle her, Zombette was allowed to attempt a scoring pass in the following jam, and indeed, found Viva La Derby and a returning Dr Carnage too tough to pass, while Bex picked up 18 points worth of laps over the 2 minute period. After those two high scoring rounds, the score had moved on to:
60 Dundee : 5 Fierce Valley
An power-jam opportunity for Fierce Valley's Max Attaxx (501), thanks to Cilla Block earning a trip to the penalty box during her first scoring pass (thanks to close opposition by Rufi-Ohh and Hey Ho Lets Jo!) led to another score for the away team, Max picking up a tough 9 points against opposition from Crown Jules (67) and Go Go Gadget Skates.
Devastatingly, the very next jam, Fun Ghoul handed a power jam to the home team, Cilla Block taking advantage of the situation to pick up 14 points for her team. With the power-jam still in progress at the start of the next jam, Dr Carnage lived up to her namesake, also taking 15 points in the next jam, with Fun Ghoul getting herself sent back to the sin-bin in the interim.
With the power jam continuing for a third successive jam, it was Psychomilly's turn to inflate the Tayzers' score some more. Misjudging a returning Fun Ghoul's speed, however, the jam ended with a single scoring pass by the Violents' jammer as Milly called it, bumping their score to:
101 Dundee : 17 Fierce Valley
With Fierce Valley having escaped their run of Dundee power-jams, there was only 3 minutes left in the period for them to try to make up their deficit.
Rufi-Ohh found herself not ideally positioned to accomplish this, however, with Psychomilly spending the next jam running a masterclass in positional blocking, keeping the Fierce Valley jammer right at the back of the pack for the entire time; though she was sure to end the jam with a hug to show there were no hard feelings.
And so, with one jam left in the period, it was Fierce Valley's Deep Fried Pixxie (1102) up to jam against Dundee's Littlest Peepshow. Thanks to an increasingly confident pack, the Parma Violents' jammer took the first (non power-jam) lead jammer status for her team in the bout, with Peepshow in close pursuit; not close enough to prevent FVRG from picking up 2 points to end the period with, however.
So, ending on a high for the away team, Period 1's final score stood at:
126 Dundee : 19 Fierce Valley
Period 2
A lovely assisted block from Lady Feerocious (trailer to Blood Honey (10)'s truck) in the second jam managed to knock both Dundee's Cilla Block assisting her own jammer, Harleen Quinzel off track; with Max Attaxx picking up a trip to the penalty box, it was still the Tayzers jam. Fierce Valley's stronger opposition, however, limited Dundee to a mere 7 points for their trouble.
Coming into the third jam, a good piece of offensive jamming by Fun Ghoul knocked the Tayzers' Littlest Peepshow to the floor; with Fun Ghoul taken down herself by Peepshow's leg, it was the Dundee jammer who took a trip to the sin-bin, handing Fierce Valley their own power-jam. Fighting hard through the pack, the Violents' jammer managed a complete grand slam pass, despite Psychomilly's best blocking efforts.
That effort placed the score at:
137 Dundee : 24 Fierce Valley
A slow start for the next jam, with Dundee dragging their heels for pivot Go Go Gadget skates to exit the sin-bin, saw Fierce Valley's Max Attaxx very nearly take lead jammer on the outside line; a elbows-penalty incurring block from Unprotected Bex being the only thing to stop her (and send Bex to the penalty box in turn). With Gadget also quickly returning to the sin-bin, Viva La Derby and Spex Offender (11) were left giving big hits to the Fierce Valley jammer to keep her in her place, while Dr Carnage picked up some laps.Similarly, jam 5 saw Jo Anarchy (04) only seconds away from taking lead jammer, but for a misstep down a crowded inside line. As it was, the inestimable Psychomilly took lead, with the Violents' jammer only escaping as Milly completed her first scoring pass - but in time to engage in some offensive jamming which resulted in the jam called with both of them on the floor.
Despite good blocking from Para-Lethal-Maul and Fun Ghoul in jam 6, Viva La Derby took lead eventually, with Deep Fried Pixxie trapped behind a well-coordinated Cult Friction (2517) and Unprotected Bex at the front of the pack.Littlest Peepshow had a more challenging time of it in the next jam, only managing a single scoring pass before having to call it... but not so bad for Dundee as jam 8. With Psychomilly off to the sin-bin right at the start of the jam, Fierce Valley's Max Attaxx finally had her chance to take lead jammer, and she did, fighting her way to the front of the pack. On her scoring pass, however, Go Go Gadget Skates knocked the jammer to the ground, falling over herself and taking a long time to get up. With the jam not stopped, Max made her way to the sin-bin instead, freeing Psychomilly to redress the balance.
Despite its brevity, the power jam had still moved the away team's score ahead by a valuable 3 points, moving the total score to:
171 Dundee : 27 Fierce Valley
Cult Friction proved she worked well in a pair again in jam 9, her partnership with Cilla Block at the front of the pack providing enough resistance to hold Jo Anarchy in the pack while Dr Carnage picked up multiple grand slam passes.
The 10th jam of the period saw Littlest Peepshow scoring points over Fierce Valley's Rufi-Ohh; but only with the sacrifice of both Psychomilly and Unprotected Bex to the penalty box. With only 2 Tayzers blockers on the track at the start of the next jam, Fun Ghoul managed a very close second to Sabre Tooth (96) through the pack, forcing her to call the jam no-score, and before any penalty time had expired. Jam 12, then, continued with a big Fierce Valley numbers advantage, which Lady Feerocious took advantage off, knocking Harleen Quinzel to the track and then almost taking lead jammer, if not for Spex Offender's last second block. With Harleen off to the sin-bin, the power-jam was Fierce Valley's for the taking.
By this time, however, both Psychomilly and Unprotected Bex had returned to the track, and made life exceptionally difficult for Lady Feerocious; although she won through eventually, thanks to good packwork by Para-Lethal-Maul and Grizabelta (42), a trip to the sin-bin immediately followed, freeing Harleen Quinzel to deliver some hard won points.
Re-entering the start of the 13th jam from the box, Lady Feerocious showed she wasn't to be messed with by an immediate hard check against Littlest Peepshow, setting up the Dundee jammer for extended punishment at the back of the pack by Fun Ghoul, allowing the Fierce Valley jammer to take lead. Peepshow and Dr Carnage were more than happy to return the favour on her scoring pass, however, and Lady Feerocious was forced to work hard for her eventual 3 point score.With little time left in the bout, it was Para-Lethal-Maul facing off against Unprotected Bex in jam 14. Good control of the front of the pack by Cilla Block and Psychomilly gave their jammer a scoring pass while her opponent was still completing her initial pass; once through the pack, however, it was Para-Lethal-Maul who proved the faster, almost completing her own scoring pass before Bex could call the jam; three more points for Fierce Valley.
The second last jam of the bout was a chance for the Parma Violents to once again show that they could play at Dundee's level; good waterfalling by Calamity Jen, Blood Honey and Lady Feerocious keeping the Tayzers' Dr Carnage locked up in the pack while Fun Ghoul took lead jammer and a scoring pass, picking up another 3 points.
With the final jam, however, it was Dundee who stamped their control back on the game, Go Go Gadget Skates taking lead jammer in her first jam of the bout while Deep Fried Pixxie was kept frustrated in the pack by the team of Sabre Tooth and Spex Offender. 10 points for the home team later, the bout ended with the score:
226 Dundee : 36 Fierce Valley
Awards and Comments
While the score itself was strongly weighted towards the home, and more experienced, team, Fierce Valley's Parma Violents made a strong showing for their first public bout. They never gave up, despite the tough battle that the Silvery Tayzers showed them, and were clearly improving in confidence and skill throughout the bout. On their next bout, with nerves reduced, and their increased experience, Fierce Valley will doubtless be a much more threatening team to play.
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Acknowledgements and Disclaimers
Thanks to the Dundee Roller Girls and Fierce Valley Roller Girls for an entertaining bout.
Your announcers were: Kinkhey and Fool Throttle. The bout programme was designed by Cilla Block.
Video, award photographs and text in this article are licensed CC:BY 3.0 (Creative Commons Attribution license: free for copying and reuse, as long as I am attributed as the author).
Laura MacDonald's photographs are licensed CC:BY-NC 3.0 (Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial license: free for reuse with attribution for non-commercial works only).
All video is part of a YouTube Playlist: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0BA57AAC5F5C8597&feature=view_all
Video and my photographs [the awards photos only] taken with a Sony A580 with a Minolta 35-105mm lens. Laura MacDonald's photographs [the bout action photos] taken with a Canon 550D with Canon 50mm F1.8 and Tamron 28-75mm F2.8 lenses.
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