On Saturday 27th August our beloved Maiden Grrders travelled up to Aberdeen to take on Granite City Roller Derby's A Team, the Northern Fights. As the first away game with the current roster we were keen to put our best skates forward and test our mettle against the awesome talents of the Fights. Our friends at Scottish Roller Derby recently interviewed some of GCRD in the lead up to the game to hear all about their progress in what has been a busy year for the northern team, which you can catch up on here. As mentioned in the blog it has been three years since the two teams faced off against one other and a lot has changed for both leagues. While the Maidens have been doing some restructuring recently the Fights have been building on rock solid foundations and let me tell you, it really showed!
The afternoon was a double header starting with GCRD's Fight Hawks playing against a mixed team going by the name of the Black Mambas. The Mambas featured guest skaters from Mean City RD, Doonhame Derby Dolls and Ayrshire Roller Derby, many of whom would be familiar to anyone who caught the Magic vs Science game in Glasgow last week!
Final score: Fight Hawks 253 - 152 Black Mambas.
The start of the second game was slightly delayed due to an injury in the last jam of the previous match. Unfortunately Firefoxx of Doonhame Derby Dolls took a nasty fall in which both her ankle and head were hurt and so all precautions were taken by the excellent EMTs and Officials to make sure she was properly taken care of before play resumed in the hall. GRD send our love and good thoughts to Firefoxx and all of Doonhame. It's really tough when accidents happen in roller derby and we all wish her a speedy recovery!
It wasn't long before our Maidens took to the track to face up against the Northern Fights. Granite's Rock N Riot took lead jammer status soon after the first whistle and the Maidens had to hustle hard to try to regain some ground. A few power jams early on gave Glasgow a chance to claim back an advantage but the Fights walls were formidable and held strong against the Maidens' offence.
Despite the tough opponents Glasgow kept their heads up and rallied again and again, but it just wasn't enough to hold off the strength of the Fights' jammers. We dealt blows but they absorbed them all and hopped, skipped and jumped right along the track boundaries to rack up the points with some particularly fancy footwork from Clinically Wasted and Udder Mayhem.
Udder Mayhem showing off some awesome balance mid-jam
Photo courtesy of Dave McAleavy of Boutday.com
Glasgow jammers Spin Diesel and Bruise Missile were both successful in getting lead jammer status in the first half, making tactical calls that shut down the opposition before they could score. Our walls were pulling together and offence going in hard, but by the half time whistle Granite held a convincing lead.
Half time: GCRD 212 - 34 GRD
The Maidens were down but not out! With a commanding pep talk from Captain Penny Pinch'er the Maidens returned to track in good spirits all ready to roll.
The second half was well underway and it seemed that the Maidens had found their feet with more offence being dealt and more tactics being deployed. There was some great chasing at the front of the pack from Raptor and beautiful blocks from Penny, as well as new Maiden jammer Fury L Spark giving everything she had to try to break through the opposing blockers. We fought hard in every jam but the Fights were relentless and their points rained down on that sunny afternoon.
Final score: GCRD 463 - 61 GRD
Northern Fights Best Blocker: Clinically Wasted
Northern Fights Best Jammer: Udder Mayhem
Northern Fights MVP: Kami-Tazzy
Maiden Grrders Best Blocker: Sadie O'Hades
Maiden Grrders Best Jammer: Spin Diesel
Maiden Grrders MVP: Bruise Missile
In a recent game report I wrote about how no matter what happens on track - especially in a country as small as Scotland - other leagues become like family and we can be pleased for our opponents. The same can be said about the Maidens defeat in Granite City. We took a thorough beating but our spirits were not broken; we made the Fights work for their scoring passes and are proud of ourselves for playing against such a tough team. Even more so we were impressed by the level of gameplay that the Northern Fights brought to the game and are proud of them for the amazing progress they've made over the past few years. When our competitors up their game it raises the level of play across the country. We learned a lot from Granite this weekend and are really excited to get back into training to put some of those lessons to good use!
We'd like to thank Granite City Roller Derby for inviting us to play, and the Fight Hawks, Black Mambas and Northern Fights for two excellent games of roller derby. We'd also like to thank all their events staff, EMTs, announcers, and of course Mr Dave McAleavy of Boutday.com for the amazing chronicling of events through his brilliant photography.
Hard as nails. GCRD Northern Fights and GRD Maiden Grrders.
Photo courtesy of Dave McAleavy, Boutday.com
If all this talk of competition and camaraderie is warming the cockles of your heart then you won't want to miss our next display of healthy sportspersonship at our second Home Teams game of the season! Join us on the 24th of September to see reigning champs the Bad Omens take on the Death Stars as they face off for a place in the final. Tickets are cheaper in advance and you can also get a special offer on a combo for game and our fundraising gig on the same night for a mere £9!