Bout Report: Glasgow Roller Derby v Granite City Roller Girls & Berlin Bombshells

For the last month or two, Glasgow Roller Girls had been hinting fairly heavily that they have something special up their sleeves for their first home bouts of the season.
On March 10th, the 5th anniversary of the founding of Glasgow Roller Girls, we finally saw the secret unveiled: a complete rebranding and relaunching as the more inclusive "Glasgow Roller Derby", with new boutfits (in striking black and yellow), logo and very professional looking website.
In order to celebrate this rebirth, Glasgow Roller Derby had organised a double header: the B-team Maiden Grrders playing Granite City Roller Girls' Northern Fights, followed by the A-team Irn Bruisers taking on fellow WFTDA members Bear City Roller Derby's Berlin Bombshells.
While the Grrders managed a clear (but hard fought) win over the Fights, 214:79, the Bruisers found themselves playing a game of two distinctly different periods, Berlin taking home a 121:152 win despite being behind by  40 points at half time.


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Bout 1

Period 1

Despite a strong initial pair of jams, Ruby Riot (08) and Clinically Wasted (111) both picking up lead jammer and points (thanks to good work by Fight Cub (182) and Zomboobies (8008) in the pack), the Northern Fights couldn't maintain that for a third. Some beautiful packwork by the Maidens held Rock'n Riot (09) in the pack, Mona Rampage (22) recycling her to the pack at least once, while jammer Sarah McMillan (7) picked up multiple scoring passes.
After 3 jams, the score sat at:

15 GRD : 05 GCRG

The Maidens and Fights remained locked in a stalemate for the next 8 jams; only two scoring passes resulting (Ruby Riot for GCRG, Rogue Runner (210) for GRD), the rest all very tight no-scores.

This critical matching was finally broken in jam 12, starting on a power-jam from the very end of the previous jam. With Rock'n Riot (09) on the penalty bench, Glasgow's Fightin' Torque (531) was the only jammer on track at the start of the jam. Some effective pack splitting by her pack helped Torque to maximise her scoring, especially as it led to all but one of Granite City's blockers being in the sin-bin. By herself, Frost Damage (69) couldn't stop the GRD jammer from taking multiple scoring passes, and closing the jam 24 points up.
Suddenly Granite City had a big gulf to fill, the points now sitting at

42 GRD : 08 GCRG

Fight Cub makes life hard for Fightin' Torque

Quickly following this up with a single scoring pass by Rogue Runner; and an exceptional non-power jam for Sarah McMillan, with GCRG's Frost Damage shut out at the rear of the pack by pivot Mona Rampage and Devil's Advoskate (350), the Maidens were clearly in the business of capitalising on their lead as much as possible.

The Northern Fights were hardly about to give up yet, however, and some good conservative jamming from Fight Cub, Ruby Riot and Clinically Wasted, along with a late call from Glasgow lead jammer Rogue Runner (allowing Rock'n Riot to take a sneaky scoring pass) helped to slowly narrow the points differential.
Jam 21 could have been just the impetus Granite City needed to really retake the initiative in the bout. Despite a bruising last second block from (The Very Hungry) Splatter killer (0) leaving her clearly winded, Fight Cub soldiered on to see GRD's Sarah McMillan off to the sin-bin for a track-cut major. The normally blazingly fast Cub was clearly suffering from her fall, and only managed a single complete scoring pass before a back block sent her to the penalty bench in turn. A better conditioned McMillan took her own turn at the power-jam and, despite colliding at full speed with Ruby Riot on her second scoring pass, had little trouble picking up a couple of grand slams before the jam came to time.

71 GRD : 28 GCRG

With only 6 minutes left in the period, Glasgow regained the initiative, despite a confusing 23rd jam where everyone but the referees seemed to think that Splatterkiller had called the jam after her initial pass. Despite a 4-3 pack advantage to GCRG, Rogue Runner narrowly took lead jammer in the next jam; Clinically Wasted took the last GCRG lead jammer of the period in jam 25, thanks to an excellently cleared inside line, and the last 2 points for her team as well. Rogue Runner was happy to run the period clock down for a whole minute in jam 26, keeping GCRG's Rock'n Riot nicely blocked out behind her for several laps; leaving it to Sarah McMillan to take the final scoring pass of the period, breaking through Frost Damage and O'Carrol (87)'s blocking with a big push, to just take a complete scoring pass before calling it from the track floor!

At half-time, the score stood at:

84 Glasgow Roller Derby : 30 Granite City Roller Girls

GRD also gives to charity!

Period 2

Returning to the second period, the onus was on the Northern Fights to start attacking the 54 point score differential as soon as possible. A confident and cohesive Maiden Grrders line-up was firmly in control, however, holding their challengers to a mere 2 scoring passes until the final 6 minutes of the bout! Much of this was down to some superlative blocking by the home team, with some nigh-impenetrable walls and hard blocking and recycling from Mona Rampage, Love Hurts (117), Haberbashery (40) and Jackash (911) in particular.

To make matters worse for the Northern Fights, the only power-jams awarded were to the home team; Jess E Ska (2tone) and Sarah McMillan capitalising on the first in the 13th and 14th jams, and then (The Very Hungry) Splatter Killer (0) immediately copping a second one in jam 15! The combined 56 points from just 3 jams were a devastating blow to Aberdeen's chances of taking a win home, putting the score at:

182 GRD : 32 GCRG

It was only in the final 4 jams that Granite City really managed to make their mark on the bout again, starting with a beautiful apex jump taking Ruby Riot into lead jammer position, although with Rogue Runner so close behind that she had to call it. The real scoring came in the next jam, a track-cut by Sarah McMillan on her scoring pass sending her to the sin-bin. With their first power-jam in the period, Rock'n Riot capitalised, despite some predictably tough blocking from the Maidens in a pack which continued rolling along with a goated Jess E Ska only serving to slow its progress.

The final two jams were similarly good to the away team, Glasgow's Devil's Advoskate coming out to jam for the first time, only to to almost immediately enter the penalty box for a track-cut. An innovative attempt to leap through Rogue Runner, knocking her to the floor, sent Ruby Riot off to the sin-bin herself, however, leaving both jammers without lead jammer status after their brief visits to the penalty bench. Matters didn't end there, however, the Maidens jammer getting herself sent off yet again, just before her fellow skater reentered the track, for an elbows major. Ruby Riot had a more successful power-jam this time, picking up a couple of grand slams, despite a 3-2 pack advantage to GRD, before time was reached. With Advoskate still in the penalty box, and only 2 Maidens on track (Jackash (911) and Summer Shudder (AF1) ) Fight Cub took full advantage to whip past a stationary pack 3 times before the GRD jammer returned to the track. Devil's Advoskate wasn't to have a good time of it, however, with Clinically Wasted and Frost Damage recycling her for yet another grand slam pass by Cub. Capping things off with one final scoring pass for GCRG, for 24 total points in one jam, Fight Cub called it.

Thanks to that eleventh-hour jam, the final score was boosted to:

214 Glasgow Roller Derby : 79 Granite City Roller Girls

Bout 2

With the Maidens having gotten their win (and, after a quick group photo outside, settled down to cheer on their fellow skaters from the suicide line), it was time for Glasgow's A-team, the Irn Bruisers, to step up and face Bear City Roller Derby's Berlin Bombshells.

Period 1

The bout started poorly for the Bombshells, Candy Darling (19) almost immediately taking a trip  to the penalty box, handing the Bruisers' Hyndman (4) a power-jam. Despite some good walling from Heavy Rotation (505) and Bam Bule (66), the home team took an excellent start to the bout with 15 points!
A hard fought jam 2 only allowed GRD's Marshall Lawless a single point ahead of Bombshells captain Master Blaster (2), and jam 3 saw the first score for Berlin, a last-second block by Bam Bule against GRD's Hardcore Prawn (88mph) stealing lead jammer for her in favour of Resident Shevil (28).

Holding Prawn at bay.

Some exceptional blocking by Chemikill Hazard (LD50) was already causing Candy Darling issues in the pack in jam 5, before a last-second track-cut sent her to the sin bin, handing GRD's Marshall Lawless (42) the second power-jam of the bout. Racking up a good 21 pt score, with Berlin blockers heading off to the penalty bench with every pass, the Bruisers' jammer only spoiled matters a tiny bit with a last-second backblock sending her to the sinbin. A very tough GRD pack limited Master Blaster's exploitation of the situation next jam, however, limiting her to just a single grand slam pass before calling early.

41 GRD : 12 BCRD

If wasn't bad enough, a third power-jam in jam 11; with Hyndman showing off some lovely jinking around blockers before Berlin's Citysin Pain (911) headed off to the sin-bin; was followed by a fourth the very next jam - Jen Sykes (360) and Ethyl Trash (26) both failing to take lead jammer on their initial pass, but the Berlin jammer making one too many mistakes on her scoring passes and taking a late trip to the penalty box. Master Blaster and Heavy Rotation kept Sykes to a single power-jam scoring pass before the jam ended, but with their jammer still in the sin-bin.
Aggressive blocking was called for, and with only two GRD blockers on track, it was easy for the Bombshells to gang up on Marshall Lawless, forcing her to pick up penalties trying to pass their wall. With Lawless heading off to the sin-bin as Ethyl Trash was leaving, it seemed like this would be the time Berlin would get to fight back; but Viper (29) and Mistress Malicious (99) did an exceptional job of recycling her repeatedly during her only scoring pass, limiting Bear City to a mere 5 points.

Slowly, the Bruisers' points differential was growing, the score now:

72 GRD : 35 BCRD

With only 9 minutes left in the jam, it was clear that the Bombshells needed to start seriously picking up net points soon to enter half time on any kind of high.

It took them a little longer to pick up momentum, however, with yet another power-jam the home team following in jam 14, Master Blaster fighting through the pack against 4-2 pack disadvantage first, but picking up a back-block penalty on the way. Undertake Her (46) and Resident Shevil tried their best to stop GRD's Marshall Lawless from picking up points, but with no other Berlin blockers on track, she was unstoppable, calling the jam when the pack advantage dropped to 4-3. Hyndman picked up the tail end of the power-jam next, with Bam Bule, Undertake Her and Agent B. Fatal (43) forcing her to fight for every pass, and eventually calling the jam from the ground after a big hit from Bam Bule.

With that matter resolved, and back to full pack strength, Bear City dug in and started fighting back hard, picking up 15 points over the final 5 jams to pull the points differential back to the middle of the bout. Some fantastic anchored walls helped to keep GRD's jammers locked up in the pack long enough to give Resident Shevil and Master Blaster lead jammer and the time to pick up scoring passes.

The period ended:

96 Glasgow Roller Derby : 51 Bear City Roller Derby

Period 2

A revitalised Berlin returned to the second period continuing their aggressive attitude from the end of the first.
Resident Shevil cut first through a very defensive pack in the first jam, although without lead jammer, thanks to a track-cut getting around Oates. Candy Darling did a little better, picking up lead jammer and a complete scoring pass against Jen Sykes in the second. Glasgow could only hold the Bombshells to no-scores for the next two jams, with their only score in jam 5 due to Master Blaster going for a second scoring pass, letting Jen Sykes pick up her own points before the jam was called.
A power-jam for Berlin's Resident Shevil didn't hurt at all in jam 6, Hyndman off for accumulated penalties trying to pass the aggressive BCRD blocking, adding another 18 points to the away teams score, making the standing now:

100 GRD : 78 BCRD

A power-jam for Hyndman, returning from the penalty box into jam 7 to pass Ethyl Trash (still trying to  escape the pack, and then off for a track-cut) gave just 6 points to the Bruisers before the jammer headed back to the sin-bin again in the middle of her second scoring pass, a resilient anchored wall from Heavy Rotation, Master Blaster and Lizzy Slaughter (742) eventually leading to an elbows penalty. The freed Ethyl Trash had no time to score before the end of the jam, and an official time-out sent her back to the penalty box before the next jam to serve her final seconds once more.

Jam 8 was the last time that the Bruisers would score for the next third of the bout, taking advantage of the Bear City jammer starting from the sin-bin to roll the pack back behind the jam line before she could re-enter. Sykes and Armed Bandit (01) kept Ethyl Trash in the pack just long enough for Hyndman to slip right around the outside line before the Bombshells noticed her, taking lead jammer and a single scoring pass.

Candy Darling, Resident Shevil and Master Blaster dominated the track for the next 10 minutes, aided by some extremely effective recycling and a sequence of seemingly impenetrable Berlin walls. With the points differential whittling slowly down, the crowning event was a 24 point power-jam for Master Blaster in jam 13, followed immediately by a second power jam for Resident Shevil, reversing the lead and then cementing it at:

110 GRD : 137 BCRD

With the shoe on the other foot, the Irn Bruisers started a revised tactic, with only 10 minutes left in the bout to change the score. Megan Hyndman proved the most able Glasgow jammer, managing 2 scoring passes in the following 6 jams; able blocking, and some hard hits, from Berlin's Heavy Rotation, Agent B. Fatal (43) and Citysin Pain (among others) kept the remaining four for their skaters, with Resident Shevil, Master Blaster and Candy Darling all picking up the Bombshell's score.
Marshall Lawless made a valiant effort in the antepenultimate jam of the bout, picking up a complete scoring pass ahead of Candy Darling, but those were the last points that Glasgow would see, the final two jams going once again to Bear City.

The final score:

121 Glasgow Roller Derby : 152 Bear City Roller Derby

Awards and Conclusions

GRD Maiden Grrders v GCRG Northern Fights

Best Jammer Maiden Grrders Sarah McMillan Northern Fights Rock'n Riot Best Blocker Maiden Grrders Haberbashery Northern Fights Frost Damage Most Valuable Player Maiden Grrders (The Very Hungry) Splatterkiller Northern Fights Fight Cub

GRD Irn Bruisers v BCRD Berlin Bombshells

Best Jammer Irn Bruisers Hyndman Berlin Bombshells Resident Shevil Best Blocker Irn Bruisers Hateball Berlin Bombshells Bam Bule Most Valuable Player Irn Bruisers Marshall Lawless Berlin Bombshells Master Blaster

Disclaimers and Acknowledgements

Thanks to Glasgow Roller Derby (and Granite City Roller Girls, Bear City Roller Derby) for two fantastic bouts.
Thanks also to the producer of the bout programme, and the GRD and BCRD live bout tweeters, and to Oates, Rock'n Riot and Sarah McMillan for info on the skater awards.


Photos:
GRD v GCRG https://picasaweb.google.com/102032801144714237554/GRDMaidenGrrdersVGCRGNorthernFights10March2012?authuser=0&feat=directlink

GRD v BCRD
https://picasaweb.google.com/102032801144714237554/GRDIrnBruisersVBCRDBerlinBombshells10March2012?authuser=0&feat=directlink

Video:
GRD v GCRG
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLB66AC2DEB75D4276&feature=view_all

GRD v BCRD
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLED30A8844468A39A&feature=view_all

This report, and all photographs and video linked therein, are licensed Creative Commons: Attribution (3.0) (CC:BY 3.0). Free for reuse and redistribution with attribution.

Photographs and video taken with a Sony A580 with a Minolta 34-105mm lens.

Bout Report: ARRG Home Season 2012: Leithal Weapons v The Skatefast Club

On the 25th of February, the second bout of Auld Reekie Roller Girls' debut Home Season saw third team, The Skatefast Club (themed on the model of 80s John Hughes films) take on first bout victors the Leithal Weapons.

Despite the teams appearing to be fairly closely matched for the third of the first period, a Leithal Weapons power-jam opened up a 36pt lead which just kept growing throughout the rest of the period, and throughout the second. The final score was 209 Leithal Weapons : 116 The Skatefast Club, seeing the Leithal Weapons throught to the final.
The Skatefast Club will face off against the Cherry Bombers on the 7th of April to determine the second finalist.

[Due to the amount of video for this bout, thanks partly to the generally short jams and frequent time-outs, it's probably best for you to follow the videos through the playlist linked at the bottom of this article, rather than my disfiguring the text with 24 video links.]

Period 1

The first period opened with a series of very short jams started with jam-line knees, setting the tone for the bout as a whole. With neither team managing to establish a lasting lead after the first 11 jams, the score sat at a close (and low)

21 Leithal Weapons : 16 The Skatefast Club

All that was set to change, however, with jam 12 finally breaking the pattern of the previous 10 minutes. With Sharkée (273) for the Leithal Weapons up against Sweet Sinner (99) for The Skatefast Club, it initially looked like the lemon team's jam, Mo B Quick (66) and Bint Imperial (893) holding back the Leithals' jammer at the front of the pack. With lead jammer, Sweet Sinner decided to go for the points, not calling the jam after her first pass. This seemed like an even better decision when Sharkée picked up penalties on her own scoring pass, sending her to the sin-bin for a head block. The Skatefast Club didn't get to enjoy their power jam for long, however, Minnie Riot (7) forcing their jammer to pick up penalties breaking through the Leithal Weapons' wall, sending her to the penalty box (and releasing Sharkée once more).

All that excitement had boosted both teams scores, but more importantly for the Leithal Weapons, it meant that the very next jam started with Sweet Sinner still in the sin-bin, giving Admiral Attackbar (11:11) a few seconds of power-jam to pick up her lead, aided by a knee start from her team mates in the pack. In fact, even though she did take lead jammer with her usual skill, Attackbar didn't need to worry about rushing; a returning Sweet Sinner almost immediately picked up a track-cut major, skating right back into the penalty box again! With pivot Alma Geddon (42) and Ciderella (3) taking turns disrupting the (stationary) Skatefast wall for her, Attackbar had no problems in picking up a 25 point power-jam. The jam called with excellent timing just as Sweet Sinner stood up for her final seconds in the  sin-bin, Minnie Riot took advantage in jam 14, dodging around a very defensive Skatefast Club forward wall to take lead jammer, and scoring a single pass before a final check from Crazylegs (11) saw her call the jam from the track floor.

Just three jams had significantly shifted the points differential, the Leithal Weapons now holding a 36 point advantage, at

59 Leithal Weapons : 23 The Skatefast Club

The Skatefast Club weren't about to give up just like that, of course, and the next 5 jams saw the points drift only slightly further apart, with the ladies in lemon giving just as good as they got.
Double D'struction (34) surrendered another power-jam to the Leithal Weapons in jam 20, however, giving Kaos Moss (84) the chance to further widen their lead. Despite only having two blockers (Tartan Tearaway (509) and Mallory Powers (9)) on track, The Skatefast Club still managed to give the Leithals' jammer a hard time, seeing her sent to the penalty box herself for a collision with a kneeling Tartan Tearaway. A freed Double D'struction did her best to exploit her own advantage, only to be sent to the sin-bin again herself; on her second release, a fully stocked Skatefast pack stopped Kaos Moss from fully completing her own scoring pass before time expired.
Playing Admiral Attackbar to exploit the brief remaining power-jam time, the Leithal Weapons effectively got a free scoring pass out of matters, bringing the score to

88 Leithal Weapons : 31 The Skatefast Club

The Skatefast Club had an opportunity to fight back in the very next jam, however, with an initially promising jam from Sharkée, completing her first scoring pass while Tartan Tearaway was still locked up in the pack, ending in a slightly overambitious attempt to sneak through the inside line on her second pass, a forearm penalty and a trip to the sin-bin. Despite the power-jam situation, some fantastic blocking and recycling by Cider and Minnie Riot, predominantly, kept The Skatefast Club scoring to a mere 6 points before their jammer returned to the track and the jam was called.

A perhaps slightly demoralised Skatefast Club couldn't do much more than limiting the Leithal Weapons to single-pass jams in the final three jams of the period, bringing the score at half time to:

103 Leithal Weapons : 38 The Skatefast Club

Period 2

Beginning the second period with a big deficit to make up, The Skatefast Club had to quickly show that they could start controlling jams and picking up points.
After a messy jam 2, starting with as a power-jam for The Skatefast Club after time-out sent Sharkée to the penalty box before the jam started, ended up with Bint Imperial off to the sin-bin in turn after a collision with Alma Geddon handed her a back block major, the jam ran to time with no lead jammer status. On balance, some exceptionally resilient walling by the lemon team (in particular, Crotch Lightning (T10) and Crazylegs as linchpins) helped to bring the balance slightly back their way, the score sitting at

121 Leithal Weapons : 54 The Skatefast Club

With a pair of less decisive jams following, it took until the 5th jam of the period for the lemon rebels to really show their mettle, some beautiful defensive packwork by The Skatefast Club's Mallory Powers, Double D'struction and Crazylegs keeping Kaos Moss locked up inside the pack for multiple grand slam passes by their own Bint Imperial. 14 points in one jam was enough to reduce the points deficit to its lowest value since halfway through the first period, just 59 points separating the teams.

While The Skatefast Club began taking knees to push their advantage, some more exceptional jamming from the Leithal Weapons Admiral Attackbar and Ciderella kept the Leithal Weapons score accruing slightly faster than their opposition. The final example of these, in jam 11, also saw the start of a run of time-outs post jam, in this case sending The Skatefast Club's Double D'struction off to the penalty box for jam 12, thanks to penalties picked up as she plowed into the back of the pack at the end of the previous play.
Another power-jam for the Leithal Weapons looked like capping things off, then, with only two blockers on track from each team. Skinn'er Alive wasn't having any of this, however, and provided some stern opposition to Sharkée, jamming; what looked like a forearms major against her finally sending the jammer to the sin-bin as the jam ended.

An unexpected power-jam for The Skatefast Club's Bint Imperial looked like it would provide some much needed momentum to the ailing team, then, but some fantastic walling and recycling by the entire Leithal Weapons side of the pack helped to minimise her effect. Despite the difficulty, this was still one of the biggest scores the ladies in lemon had made in the period, a big 14 points to their score.
However, another official time-out immediately after the jam ended resulted in Bint Imperial being sent to the sin-bin, handing the Leithal Weapons a chance to immediately come back; which they did, in 2 successive jams (thanks to good call timing again by Admiral Attackbar in the first, allowing Sharkée a brief uncontested time on the track next),
The end result, then, a gaping of the blue water between the two teams scores, now sitting at:

179 Leithal Weapons : 92 The Skatefast Club

With 11 minutes left in the bout, it was starting to look like an increasingly safe game for the Leithal Weapons, but The Skatefast Club could still come back and at least reduce the difference between the scores.
A power-jam for Mo B Quick three jams later might have done the trick, providing 14 points, but that marked the tail end of the 80s girls' scoring.
Amidst an increasingly time-out heavy final 7 minutes and 9 jams (the time-outs were actually longer than the jams), The Skatefast Club only scored two more passes, while the Leithal Weapons picked up 24 points, 9 of them in another impressive display of jamming from Admiral Attackbar in the second last jam of the bout.

209 Leithal Weapons : 116 The Skatefast Club

Awards and Discussion

Perhaps a slightly disappointing debut for the third of Auld Reekie's home teams, admittedly playing without one of their stronger jammers, Blazin' Phoenix. That said, the Leithal Weapons showed excellent form both offensively and defensively, and the score certainly reflects that they really earned their place in the final.

Leithal Weapons MVP: Minnie Riot

Best Jammer The Skatefast Club Bint Imperial Leithal Weapons Admiral Attackbar Best Blocker The Skatefast Club Mallory Powers Leithal Weapons Ciderella Best Rookie The Skatefast Club Double D'struction Leithal Weapons Kiki MVP The Skatefast Club Skinn'er Alive Leithal Weapons Minnie Riot

The Skatefast Club MVP: Skinn'er Alive

..

Acknowledgements and Disclaimers

Thanks to the Auld Reekie Roller Girls for a fantastic bout.

Your announcer was Stephen Tawking, ably assisted by the ubiquitous Psychomilly.

The text, photo and videography in this report are licensed CC:BY 3.0 (Creative Commons: Attribution  - free to reuse, share and modify with attribution).

All photographs are available as part of a Picasa album here: https://picasaweb.google.com/102032801144714237554/AuldReekieRollerGirlsHomeSeasonLeithalWeaponsVTheSkatefastClub?authuser=0&feat=directlink
and also on Facebook.

All video is available as part of a YouTube playlist here: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1EF3DC53216C3E52&feature=view_all

Video and Photography was taken with a Sony A580 with a Minolta 35-105 mm lens.

Bout Report: Fierce Valley Roller Girls vs Dundee Roller Girls in "Bruise Brothers"

As I mentioned in my previous report, 2012 has been a good year for Scottish Roller Derby already. The 19th of February saw this trend continue, with Fierce Valley Roller Girls, once Scotland's newest league, graduating to their first ever public bout. Dundee Roller Girls' Silvery Tayzers were kind enough to host FVRG's Parma Violents at the Dundee International Sports Centre.

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

Returning from half-time, Fierce Valley continued to demonstrate their improved confidence and skill, even if the first two jams didn't go their way.
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.

Parma Violents MVP: Fun Ghoul

Sin-Bin Queen Silvery Tayzers Psychomilly Parma Violents Lady Feerocious Best Blocker Silvery Tayzers Unprotected Bex Parma Violents Calamity Jen Best Jammer Silvery Tayzers Harleen Quinzel Parma Violents Zombette Most Valuable Player Silvery Tayzers Littlest Peepshow Parma Violents Fun Ghoul

Silvery Tayzers MVP: Littlest Peepshow

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.

Bout Report: GCRG Intraleague: Slaughtership Down 12 Feb 2012

With two new roller derby leagues appearing (in Livingston and "the Lothians"), and Auld Reekie Roller Girls holding their first Home Season, 2012 had already been a great year for Roller Derby in Scotland. The 12th of February only cemented this year's status, with Slaughtership Down seeing the first ever intraleague bout for Aberdeen's Granite City Roller Girls. Due to a lack of numbers, GCRG invited guest skaters from all five of the remaining skating leagues in Scotland (Auld Reekie Roller Girls, Dundee Roller Girls, Fair City Rollers, Fierce Valley Roller Girls and Glasgow Roller Girls) to fill out their numbers, making Slaughtership Down the first bout in Scotland to feature skaters from every bouting league.
Due to organisational issues with their new venue, Slaughtership Down could not be held in Aberdeen, the Granite City Roller Girls travelling down to Perth to use Fair City Rollers' impressive (if a bit Sodium-light) venue in Bells Sport Centre. On the plus side, 50% of Rollin' News, Mr X, was lucky enough to be in Scotland and managed to provide live-ish track-side score updates during the bout.


After a closely fought bout between both teams, the final score stood at 163 Woundwort's Warlocks: 146 Bigwig's Banshees.

Period 1

Despite the first five minutes, and four jams, suggesting that the Warlocks had the advantage, with a combined score of 7 points to the Banshees' 0, this didn't survive the first power jam of the bout. A very slightly misjudged apex jump from 08 ended up with a trip to the sin-bin, handing the track to the Banshees' (and Fair City Rollers') Teenie Bash (2). Despite some spirited opposition, particularly from Warlocks pivot (and Auld Reekie skater) Crotch Lightning (T10), the Banshees jammer managed an impressive 19 point haul, her team's first points of the bout.

Clinically Wasted just pips Krusty Thud out of the pack.

With Rock'n Riot (09) continuing the Banshees' scoring into the 6th jam, thanks to the Warlocks front wall splitting the pack. With the Warlocks' Crimson Chaos much less lucky with the pack, Rock'n Riot managed a single grand slam pass before her opponent caught her up, thanks to Clinically Wasted (111) and Shazmataz (360) knocking her off track before she could even start her second pass. (VIDEO)

After those two high scoring bouts, the score after 8 minutes, was:

07 Warlocks : 24 Banshees

How to do an apex leap.

Unfortunately for the Banshees, their scoring trend didn't survive any longer, with Hyndman (4), after a slow start to release players from the penalty box, and Ruby Riot (08) bringing home points for the Warlocks in the next two jams. If that wasn't bad enough, the Warlocks were also next in line for a big score, with Banshees' Rock'n Riot picking up a track cut penalty and time in the penalty box in jam 9. Warlocks' Clinically Wasted showed off the jamming skills that got her into the national team, pulling off a 17 point power jam before a back block penalty sent her off in turn; with only 20 seconds left in the jam, Rock'n Riot only had time to pick up a single pass before time was called.
With the Banshees power jam continuing into jam 10 (VIDEO), a knee start (one of the first jam-line pack tactics of the bout) allowed Auld Reekie skater Mallory Powers (9) to take full advantage of her remaining time, picking up a brace of grand slam passes, thanks partly to her blockers letting the Warlocks break the pack when trying to wall her in.
With the jam called as soon as Clinically Wasted returned to the track, this pair of back-to-back power-jams had left the score, half-way through the first period, at:

29 Warlocks : 40 Banshees

Another high-scoring jam was up next, however, with neither Warlocks' Hyndman and Banshees' Fight Cub (182) managing a clean initial pass, meaning that there was no lead jammer. The Banshees had the better time of the two minute jam, picking up 21 points to the Warlocks' 10, and extending their lead.

An interesting tactical decision by Rock'n Riot not to call the next jam after her first scoring pass meant that Clinically Wasted could prevent the lead being extended much more, before a power-jam for Hyndman in jam 14 (Krusty Thud (666) off, after attaining lead jammer) finally allowed the Warlocks to begin narrowing the gap, taking Sour Clout as a goat and slowing the pack nicely for their jammer. Despite Fight Cub's extremely powerful hip and shoulder checks making life difficult for Hyndman, a 15 point haul was enough to bring the scores within single figures of each other for the first time in ages.

70 Warlocks : 77 Banshees

With the next two jams seeing further narrowing of the lead (VIDEO) to only 5 points, a sequence of two power jams in the final three jams saw the scores shift even more radically; first (VIDEO) Teenie Bash pulling the Banshees' lead right back to 20 points (despite being knocked down on almost every pass by Terrifying Tink (8)) as a messy collision on her initial pass saw Clinically Wasted off to the sin-bin, and then, in the final jam, (VIDEO) a forearms/backblock penalty seeing Krusty Thud off to to the penalty area, allowing Clinically Wasted her own power-jam time, and an impressive 25 point haul, thanks partly to an increasingly depleted Banshees pack (the final 3 passes against only pivot Mallory Powers and Dundee's Unprotected Bex (32) ).

After this action packed final series of jams, the score at the end of the final score showed the Warlocks finally, narrowly, back in the lead:

100 Warlocks : 95 Banshees

Period 2

Teenie Bash taking the outside line...

Returning in the second period, the Warlocks continued their strong performance, dominating the first quarter of the period with single-pass scores for every jam. Despite this domination, low scoring meant that the Banshees still only faced a 12 point deficit 6 jams in.
The Warlock's total domination was only broken in the 7th jam of the period, a simultaneous sending off of both jammers (Teenie Bash for the Banshees, Ruby Riot for the Warlocks) resulting in there being no lead for the jam. Going to time, both teams capitalised, although the stronger Warlocks blocking, in particular from Fair City's Jill Antonic (76) at the rear of the pack, resulted in an additional pass for the yellow team, increasing their lead slightly to

117 Warlocks : 103 Banshees

An official time-out looked like placing the Banshees back in a commanding position, the Warlocks' Ruby Riot being sent to the sin-bin for the next jam, placing Krusty Thud in a starting power-jam situation for the Banshees. However, the strong pairing of Terrifying Tink and Shazmataz (pivot) kept the Banshees jammer locked up on her initial pass for an entire lap, and prevented her from taking lead jammer, effectively reducing her score to a single grand slam pass.
Returning to the track after serving her time, Ruby Riot even had time to complete her first scoring pass before calling off the jam, as Krusty herself ended up in the penalty box shortly after the Warlocks jammer had returned!

With the Warlocks power-jam continuing into jam 9 (VIDEO), Hyndman took the opportunity to pick up a solid 9 points before a back block sent her to the penalty box, releasing Krusty Thud to return the favour for the Banshees.

With four closely matched jams following, the score barely moved until the next power-jam, in jam 14, the Banshees' Teenie Bash off with a track-cut penalty early in the jam, allowing Ruby Riot control of the track. Whilst her teammates slowed the pack effectively, the Banshees were in good form, forcing the Warlocks jammer to push their wall out of play to score on every pass, and culminating in some good recycling by Oates, neutralising the last pass entirely.

Still, the Warlocks had increased their lead slightly, to:

145 Warlocks : 123 Banshees

Now firmly in the final third of the period, (VIDEO) Fight Cub continued the Banshees' show of form, effortlessly completing her scoring pass along a wide open outside line, while Clinically Wasted was given trouble by Mallory Powers and Rock'n Riot. Completing two scoring passes (the first a little messier than the second) for Wasted's one, Cub seemed happy to call of the jam. With Teenie Bash and Hyndman equally matched in jam 16, and Mallory Powers and Frost Damage similarly so in the 17th jam, we had to wait for jam 18 for the score to change further.
Helped by a distinct pack advantage, 2 Warlocks blockers to 3 Banshees, Rock'n Riot took lead jammer with a 1/3 lap lead over Hyndman, but opted to take the second scoring pass before calling off the jam, allowing one of her players to serve her time in the box; in the process, the pack advantage reversed, Oates ending up in the sin-bin during Hyndman's scoring pass.

With less than 3 minutes on the clock, the score stood at:(VIDEO)

153 Warlocks : 138 Banshees

So, with the tactical advantage to the Warlocks, Fight Cub seemed unbowed, managing a lovely little apex leap to take lead jammer on the inside line, and a single, near effortless, scoring pass before calling the jam.

With a single jam left in the bout, the score differential had now narrowed to only 11 points; the game was still anyone's to call.(VIDEO)

With Teenie Bash facing off against Hyndman once again, it was Hyndman who escaped the pack first, although in the process picking up a back-block penalty against Unprotected Bex which sent her to the sin-bib. The Banshees jammer wasn't having a much better time of it, being pummelled by Clinically Wasted and Crotch Lighting at the rear of the pack. Eventually reentering just ahead of her blockers, Teenie Bash made the second trip to the sin-bin in this jam, causing Hyndman to be released after only 20 seconds in the penalty box, but neither jammer was now lead, so the bout would go to time. A Banshees rear wall started a difficult scoring pass for the Warlocks, with Fun Ghoul (4:48), Oates and Rock'n Riot all taking turns to obstruct Hyndman's pass until they inevitably split the pack. The delay was long enough for Teenie Bash to serve her own abbreviated time in the bin and begin her own scoring pass, but a blazingly fast Hyndman caught her still in this process, the Warlocks' own rear wall tactic proving just as effective. With the jam going to time, it was now down to pack work to manage the number of passes each jammer would be allowed to make; with the Warlocks already holding a single pass advantage, there was little change in the relative scores throughout the rest of the jam, bringing the final score to:

163 Warlocks : 146 Banshees 

Awards

Warlocks MVP: Frost Damage

Best Blocker Bigwig's Banshees Mallory Powers (9) Woundwort's Warlocks Crotch Lighting (T10) Best Jammer Bigwig's Banshees Fight Cub (182) Woundwort's Warlocks Hyndman (4) Most Valuable Player Bigwig's Banshees Oates (3) Woundwort's Warlocks Frost Damage (69)

Banshees MVP: Oates

Acknowledgments and Disclaimers

Thanks to the Granite City Roller Girls for an excellent bout; to Fair City Rollers for hosting, and for all the other guesting leagues and skaters.


Video, 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).

All video is part of a YouTube Playlist:
Video: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCCAA600EF99F5886&feature=view_all

and all photographs part of a Picasa web album
Photo: https://picasaweb.google.com/102032801144714237554/SlaughtershipDownGCRGIntraleague12Feb2012?authuser=0&feat=directlink

Video and photographs taken with a Sony A580 with a Minolta 35-105mm lens.

Bout Report: Auld Reekie Roller Girls Home Season 1: Cherry Bombers vs Leithal Weapons

The 21st of January saw the start of the first ever Home Season for Auld Reekie Roller Girls, pitting the  "steampunk/seagull" themed Leithal Weapons against the "zombie cheerleader" themed Cherry Bombers. Both teams, along with third and final home team, "80s John Hughes movie" themed The Skatefast Club, include a complete mix of skaters, from experienced Team Scotland qualifiers through to the newest rookies.
After an initial power jam to the Leithal Weapons' Admiral Attackbar (11:11) in the second jam of the bout handed them a 26 point advantage, the Cherry Bombers only managed to narrow the gap in the final few minutes of the bout itself, a brilliant power jam from Zillah (555) adding 29pts to their score, for a narrow loss of 171 Cherry Bombers to 179 Leithal Weapons.

The next bout in the season will be Leithal Weapons vs The Skatefast Club on the 25th of February.

For the first ever skateout for the two teams, the crowd was predictably excited. (VIDEO)

Period 1

Zillah leaves carnage in her wake.

The first period started with a close fought jam between Leithal Weapons captain, Minnie Riot (7) and Cherry Bombers' Circuit Breaker (100), which went to time, neither achieving lead jammer status in their initial pass. Unfortunately for the Cherry Bombers, the second jam of the period saw Zillah (555) pick up a trip to the penalty box in her initial pass, handing a power-jam to Admiral Attackbar (11:11). The Leithal Weapons jammer, who had shown good form in Tattoo Freeze only the week previously, capitalised to pick up 20 points in grand slam passes before Zillah returned to the track.
For the rest of the first half of the period, the Leithal Weapons maintained their lead, winning the majority of lead jammer statuses, and scoring slowly but consistently. The Cherry Bombers only scored in three jams in that same period, jam 5 (VIDEO) after both teams had their jammers (Minnie Riot and VeloSidy (16) ) sent off in relatively close succession, jam 6 with an almost inseparable VeloSidy and Admiral Attackbar separated by a takedown of the latter by Zillah (as pivot) on their scoring pass, and jam 7, which saw both jammers (Leithal Weapons' Kaos Moss (84) and Cherry Bombers' Circuit Breaker) sent to the sin-bin simultaneously and the jam go to time.
By the start of jam 13, then, with only 12 minutes left in the period, the scores stood at:

24 Cherry Bombers : 69 Leithal Weapons.

Danger Mouth is an imposing last line of defence...

With Leithal Weapons' Death Biffo (14) almost immediately sent to the sin-bin for a back-block major, however, this jam was the chance for the Cherry Bombers to start moving the score back their way. Some lovely pack control helped Zillah to pick up a 15 point power jam, with only some determined face-to-face blocking from Leithal Weapons' vice-Captain Alma Geddon (42) proving sufficient to slow her passes down, despite resulting in a trip to the sin-bin for Alma for blocking out of bounds.

Zillah's power jam seemed to reawaken the fight in the Cherry Bombers, the remaining third of the period staying fairly close between the teams; a rare trip to the penalty box for Admiral Attackbar towards the end of jam 17 (a lead jammerless jam) which extended over to the start of jam 18 (VIDEO) giving the biggest scoring opportunities for the Bombers' Zillah and VeloSidy. Coming into the final three jams, Circuit Breaker looked like she was going to make it three-for-three for Cherry Bombers scoring in jam 19 (VIDEO, also jam 20), slipping almost instantly through the pack and into lead jammer status while Kaos Moss was still at the back. A hard collision with the Leithal Weapons' rear wall on her scoring pass, followed up by a check by Midget Gems (873), knocked her to the track, however; by the time she'd regained her skates, Kaos Moss had whipped through a distracted pack to take the points herself.

Another successful jam for Admiral Attackbar!

Continuing their momentum, the Leithal Weapons' Yin And Bang (39) effortlessly took lead jammer in the penultimate jam of the period, with some particularly strong blocking from Death Biffo keeping Zillah from breaking through herself (and, in fact, seeing her off to the sin-bin for either the track cut or the back block involved). Despite the best efforts of the Bombers' Sunny Sheeba, the Leithal Weapons picked up a 16 point power-jam, before Zillah returned to the track with a last-minute scoring pass (apparently before the opposing team had even noticed she was back!).

The final jam (VIDEO) saw some exceptional blocking from the Leithal Weapons Bulletproof Glass (.357) and Midget Gems prevent Circuit Breaker from escaping the pack while Admiral Attackbar completed a natural grand slam; in the process of trying to escape, the Cherry Bombers jammer managed to pick up enough penalties to earn a trip to the penalty box soon after, although the Leithal Weapons had less use of the opportunity than they'd have liked, thanks to an impressive display of back skating by Bombers Captain and pivot Danger Mouth (55) forcing Attackbar to reenter almost a third of the track back from where she'd been knocked out.
With the period ending with Circuit Breaker still in the penalty box, the scores stood at:

71 Cherry Bombers : 110 Leithal Weapons

Period 2

With the second period starting on a power-jam for the Leithal Weapons, the Cherry Bombers' Sonny Sheeba, Danger Mouth and Bronx Betty (319, pivot) pulled out some strong cohesive pack work to slow Kaos Moss's initial pass, and hold her to only 3 points on her only scoring pass (VIDEO).
After a close jam between emerging rivals Zillah and Admiral Attackbar, jam 3 saw the first big scoring jam of the period, with Circuit Breaker taking lead jammer for the Cherry Bombers (despite spending a moment sandwiched between all four Leithal Weapons blockers), while Yin And Bang headed off to the penalty box. A back block major on her third scoring pass sent Circuit to the sin-bin herself, however, providing Yin and Bang with her own opportunity to fight through a strongly defensive Demon Speeding (333) and VeloSidy, picking up 5 points before the jam ended.

Circuit Breaker powering through her power-jam.

With the Leithal Weapons power-jam continuing into jam 4 (VIDEO), Death Biffo almost immediately gave the advantage up, sent off within seconds for what looked like a back block major. With Circuit Breaker released from the penalty bench after some brief confusion, she capitalised well, picking up another 11 points despite some lovely anchor work from the Weapons' Alma Geddon, before the jam ended with a returning Death Biffo finally completing her initial pass.
With the points now standing at:

96 Cherry Bombers : 118 Leithal Weapons

it looked like the points differential was finally in danger of being eroded.
A elbows major for Zillah in the very next bout put paid to that possibility for a while, however, allowing the Leithal Weapons' Kaos Moss to pick up 17 points in the resulting power-jam; with Zillah picking up a track cut major almost as soon as she returned to the track, the Cherry Bombers were without a jammer for almost the entire jam; and the second penalty continued into jam 6, where excellent jamming by Admiral Attackbar picked up another 7 points before Zillah finally returned to the track, and the jam was called.
With the points differential now back to 46 points,

96 Cherry Bombers : 142 Leithal Weapons

The first of many falls for the indomitable Bulletproof Glass
on this jam.

the Cherry Bombers would really have to work hard to have a chance of pulling out a win.
Despite Zillah leading the way in the very next jam with a 4-point single pass score, the subsequent 4 jams were dominated by the Leithal Weapons once more, with only VeloSidy sneaking in a single point score. The most determined skating was almost certainly that of the Leithal Weapons' Bulletproof Glass, knocked down four times in a row trying to complete her initial pass, but recovering with very nice rolls each time and never giving up. Rewarded by a power-jam in the second half of the jam, she picked up 7 points, to match the 9 points that Zillah had managed in the first half.
With Zillah outpacing Admiral Attackbar through the pack in the next jam (despite starting from the penalty bench), but without lead jammer, the scores stood at:

109 Cherry Bombers : 161 Leithal Weapons

with 12 minutes left in the bout.
The next jam, jam 13, (VIDEO) with some exceptional blocking from Bronx Betty and Maulibu Barbie (581) holding Yin and Bang back and then sending her off, the Cherry Bombers' Circuit Breaker was in a position to start fighting back; however, she was given huge trouble in turn from the Leithal Weapons, in particular Minnie Riot, which limited her to a single scoring pass before calling it.
With Zillah and Midget Gems both managing a single scoring pass in the next jam (VIDEO), and Cherry Bombers captain Danger Mouth fouling out a jam later, it was beginning to look more and more like a certain victory for the Leithal Weapons.

With a brief ray of hope emerging just two jams later (VIDEO), Alma Geddon giving away a power-jam to Circuit Breaker, the points differential narrowed to just 26 points. However, the Leithal Weapons responded with a much more defensive play for the final minutes of the bout, holding the score near constant (VIDEO) until the final jam of the bout.
With only time for one more jam, and the score standing at:

142 Cherry Bombers : 179 Leithal Weapons

Zillah needed to pull out all the stops to make a Cherry Bombers win possible (VIDEO). Fighting through to lead jammer status, while Bronx Betty and VeloSidy made life extremely difficult for Irn Mayhem (667), the Cherry Bombers jammer actually picked up a couple of grand slam passes before things got even better for her; Irn Mayhem picking up enough penalties to send her to the sin-bin. Capitalising fully, Zillah managed to acquire an impressive 29 points by the end of the jam, putting the final scores at a hard-fought:

171 Cherry Bombers : 179 Leithal Weapons

Awards

Leithal Weapons MVP Alma Geddon (and mascot)

Best Jammer Cherry Bombers Circuit Breaker Leithal Weapons Yin and Bang Best Blocker Cherry Bombers VeloSidy Leithal Weapons Death Biffo Best Rookie Cherry Bombers Maulibu Barbie Leithal Weapons Bulletproof Glass MVP Cherry Bombers Bronx Betty Leithal Weapons Alma Geddon

Cherry Bombers MVP Bronx Betty

Acknowledgements and Information


Thanks to the Auld Reekie Roller Girls for a fantastic bout.

Your announcers were: Fay Bentos and Mo B Quick.

The text, photo and videography in this report are licensed CC:BY 3.0 (Creative Commons: Attribution  - free to reuse, share and modify with attribution).

All photographs are available as part of a Picasa album here: https://plus.google.com/photos/102032801144714237554/albums/5700414527868433025
and also on Facebook.

All video is available as part of a YouTube playlist here: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL206FD72375370D9B&feature=view_all

Video and Photography was taken with a Sony A580 with a Minolta 35-105 mm lens.

A gaming review of the year (2011)

I've actually played relatively few computer games this year, mostly because my chair for my desktop PC is still broken, and my laptop is a MacBook (and therefore suffers from neither being Windows, nor having as up-to-date versions of Wine available for it as Linux-based systems). This gaming review of my year, therefore, is based almost entirely upon games I've played in the last two months (most of the games here were bought in one or other of the Humble Indie Bundles recently), or one game for Nintendo DS that I finally got around to playing (mainly due to finally having a DS Lite).
I've also not actually finished most of the games here; the ones I've completed at least once are Portal 2, SMT:SJ and The Binding of Isaac. (I've not mentioned games here that I've not played at all, but own. This is mostly the additional games that comprised the Humble Bundles, but also Deus Ex: Human Revolution, which I'm still waiting for the OSX port of...)


Shin Megami Tensei : Strange Journey (Nintendo DS)
(the first game this year to reduce me to tears (at the conclusion of the Neutral ending); also the game I stopped playing on New Game+ as Lawful, because you're forced to be such a horrible person that it was sapping my will to continue. Not released in the UK: I picked up my copy in the USA last year, in anticipation of buying a DS at some point. )
★★★★☆

Marathon (technically: the remake of Marathon in the Aleph-One open-source engine).
(Very very hard to play with a trackball or a trackpad. As a result, I've not managed to get past the first level, embarrassingly.)
unrated: not enough play time.

The Binding of Isaac
(Ed McMillen's games always have the problem that Ed has the sense of humour of a dysfunctional 12-year old. This means that the tone lurches between toilet humour and something approximating darkness, which can be mildly off-putting. Danny Baranowsky's soundtrack is the best thing about the game; the gameplay is the second, combining the best bits of Zelda, Robotron and the roguelike genre to produce something almost as good as one of them.)
★★★★☆

Super Meat Boy 
(not as "hard" as it might be, which is not necessarily a bad thing; what is less forgivable is the terrible performance and surprisingly high system requirements. Once again, the main reason to play this is Danny Baronowsky's excellent music, especially if you have the poorly ported OSX release as I do.)
★★★☆☆

Cave Story +
(a platform "rpg" which really wants you to use adjectives like "enchanting" about it. I particularly like the experience mechanic - unlike most games, it's your current weapon which powers up with experience, not you (although additional health is available separately), and is depowered by taking enough damage subsequently. In terms of tone, it's towards the cutesy end of Japanese RPG design, with anthropomorphic bunnies as the majority cast members, other than the player.)
★★★★★

Portal 2 
(like Portal, one of the few Valve games to throw me out of the naturalness of following the path (both games have moments where you're forced to do something obviously stupid to make the plot continue),  a bit easier than Portal but also more varied (partly because it actually tries to have a plot, partly because of the new gameplay mechanics introduced), I didn't play the co-op mode because I have no-one to play with (which is one reason I took so long to buy this in the first place; also the other game that brought me to tears at the end)
★★★★★

Bit.Trip RUNNER
(one of a series of games in the Bit.Trip sequence, RUNNER is basically Simon, but with platforming: Captain Video must complete a series of auto-scrolling levels by performing the correct sequence of actions (jump, slide, kick, etc), in time with a musical background. Notable mostly for being one of the cluster of inter-pollinating Indie games of the last few years, RUNNER featuring guest characters from other games, and Captain Video likewise guesting in others (like Super Meat Boy)).
★★★☆☆

Jamestown
(a bullet-hell vertically-scolling shooter set in a steampunk world where we colonised Mars and the Spanish allied with the advanced Martian civilisation for Evil purposes, and with an excellent soundtrack,.What's not to like? Shop-based unlockables are also well implemented. )
★★★★☆

Crayon Physics Deluxe
(a winner of the Independent Games Festival, based on drawing freeform solutions to physics-based problems (in each room you have to get a ball to a star. Everything you draw becomes a rigid physical object, which you can use to solve the room in whatever way you wish. Despite this, the form is a bit limiting, and the game quickly feels a little restrictive, especially when it fails to interpret your drawings correctly.).
★★★☆☆

VVVVVV
(another prize-winning game, with another simple mechanic: Captain Viridian stars in a 8-bit styled platformer where, unusually, you cannot jump: instead, you can only invert the direction of gravity while touching a surface. The restriction provided by this is the source of multiple puzzles, many of which require you to "fall" through multiple rooms before reaching a terminal surface on which to launch yourself from in the opposite sense (often in order to accomplish a total horizontal movement of only a few blocks width over a deadly obstacle). Like Super Meat Boy, death is cheap, and twitch-sequence learning is necessary; unlike SMB, VVVVVV is consistently likeable, if surreal, and performant on basically any computer.)
★★★★☆

Edited post-25th Entry:
Gratuitious Space Battles
(GSB is Positech's interesting approach to a space tactical game, focussing on design, rather than control. Given free-reign to design ships, their deployment, and their initial orders (such as: escort this vessel, fire on any enemy attacking this ship), each battle consists of the action unfolding without your further involvement. There is an unlockables system, paid for with points awarded for how well your designs have done in each engagement (winning significantly under budget gives more points). Limited by the available number of missions, and by a difficulty cliff at the start of the game (you'll lose most of the time when you start playing, until you start to understand how the game mechanics work).)
★★★☆☆