Game Report: Dublin A vs Irn Bruisers 5.11.16

It would be safe to say that the Irn Bruisers found their game in Ireland on Saturday challenging. The prediction beforehand was for a Dublin win, and they stamped their mark on the game from the very start.

Devil's Advoskate tricked by a wily Dublin jammer; photo courtesy of Alastair McAleese.

Dublin A established a big lead early on, with the scoreline sitting at 63-0 in their favour early in the first half. Glasgow fought back to stick some points on the board but Dublin certainly didn't make it easy for them, 131-16. The Bruisers struggled onwards for every point, and ended the first half with the score 172-27 to the home team.

With their opponents sitting in a dominant position after the break, it was all uphill in the second half for the Bruisers. They dug in and managed to sneak some more points past Dublin A, but for every point the Bruisers squeezed out of them the Irish skaters piled on even more and early in the second half the scores were 228-49. Despite our skaters' best efforts, the home team pulled further and further ahead and won comfortably.

Sarah McMillan fighting through the Dublin blockers; photo courtesy of Alastair McAleese.

Final score: Dublin A 401 - 75 GRD Irn Bruisers

Irn Bruisers MVP: Lindsey Watson 40

This was the Irn Bruisers last game of the season, and they're now taking a month break from training before getting back on it in December to come back stronger in 2017. Watch this space for more news on planned events for next year.

For your next roller derby fix, why not come along to our Home Teams Final on Saturday? First-time finalists the T-Wrecks will be facing last year's winners the Bad Omens to see who will be crowned champions - go here for more information and to book your tickets!

Dublin A vs Irn Bruisers - 5.11.16

Game poster for Dublin A vs Irn Bruisers; courtesy of Dublin Roller Derby.

Remember, remember the 5th of November (which isn't hard as it's only in two days time as I write this, and even my attention span isn't that short) - our Irn Bruisers are taking a short trip over the sea to face up to Dublin Roller Derby's A Team.

The teams last played each other two years ago, 8th November 2014, when the Bruisers dominated the game with the score 118-29 at half time, and the Irn Bruisers taking the win 249-82.

The Irn Bruisers about to face up to Dublin A back in 2014; image courtesy of Dave McAleavy boutday.com

Our team has seen a lot of change in recent times, with a number of notable departures but also plenty of new talent. Over at the Scottish Roller Derby blog, they're predicting an Irish victory and certainly that's what the current stats would support. They have eleven members on the Team Ireland training squad and have had a pretty strong season, but our Irn Bruisers won't make it easy for them. We've got plenty of fight and we're packing it all with our skates, safety gear and clean underwear ready for the weekend.

Some of the action from the last time GRD met DRD; photo courtesy of Dave McAleavy boutday.com 

The game starts at 1pm, and will be live-tweeted from @DRDscores so if you can't be there onthe day you can keep up to date with all the action. Hey ho GLASGOW!

GRD: A year in the life

Recently GRD held our Annual General Meeting at Euro Hostel Glasgow. At this meeting the Board of Directors reported to our league members on the business of the club over the past year, followed by a financial report and information on the business of each of our committees. This year with the assistance of our Web and Design committee the Directors showed us a wonderful slideshow of some of our triumphs and challenges which took place between September 2015 and 2016. 

Here at the blog we thought our readers might like to share in this little trip down memory lane, so grab yourself a cuppa and take a gander at what we've been up to!

Game Report: Why So Sirius? at FVRG's Harry Potter Sur5al Tournament

Team Why So Sirius featuring Shona Mercy, Rumbledore, Luna Shovegood, J K Fouling, #Swagrid and GRD's own Lawless, also of 5th Blocker Skates!

Merlin's beard, did you hear about the magnificent Harry Potter Sur5al Tournament that our friends over at Fierce Valley Roller Girls hosted recently? It was a MAGICAL day!

For those who reckon they know the rules of roller derby but are not familiar with this particular format, a Sur5al tournament differs from our standard game in a few significant ways: 

• Each team is made up of five players instead of the usual fourteen. This means every skater is on track for every jam!
• Each team plays every other team taking part in the tournament once for a single jam. There were ten teams taking part in this tournament so it meant we all played nine jams.
• Lead Jammer status can be awarded to the first jammer legally out the pack but they may not call off the jam early, it must run for the full two minutes.
• Teams gain five points for a win, two for a draw, and zero for a loss. It was also possible to gain one additional point for earning Lead Jammer status. 
• If any skaters foul out of the tournament their team continues with as few as four or three skaters, but any less than that and they will be forced to forfeit their remaining games. 
• The team with the most points at the end of the tournament WINS! 

FVRG pulled out all the stops and got the Ministry of Magic involved in their events team to ensure the day went off without a hitch. The witches and wizards of the NSO team were dressed in their Hogwarts House finery with jam timers announcing "Five seconds!" with a swish of their wands. Butterbeer and Polyjuice potion were available at the cake stall and even the vendors got involved with magical artefacts from Notebook as well as FVRG's own Maxx Attack and FunGhoul's (witch)crafty goods. "Sweet quaffle!" I hear you cry. But that wasn't all! There was also some bewitching  ROLLER DERBY to thrill and entertain throughout the afternoon.

Just like a normal quidditch match this was a co-ed tournament and so most teams featured more than one gender - in fact team Why So Sirius? from GRD were the only all female team taking part. Skaters from as many as twelve Scottish teams skated and most gave themselves Potter-tastic names, including Neville Wears Prada, Snitches and Bitches, the Nameless Ones and Snapes on a Plane. Many skaters renamed themselves for the occasion too - personal favourites were Luna Shovegood, J K Fouling, Ron Weavesley, Hustlepuff, and HARMione Grinder! 

But don't let the fun names befuddle you, when the teams got on track the action was as fast as a Firebolt and as hard-hitting as a Hippogriff. Neville Wears Prada took an early lead and remained undefeated throughout the tournament - no Felix Felicis was allowed on the premises, they did this all through pure skill! - and so with the Galleon podium taken care of the hotly contested spots were second and third as the Slytherwins and Golden Snatches battled it out for the Sickle and Knut, each winning seven of their nine jams.

The final scores on the board when all snitches were recaptured. Image courtesy of Sam Skipsey.

Team Why So Sirius came ninth out of ten and had a glorious time playing such fantastic competitors. For three of us this was our first co-ed experience and all had a really great time skating against friends and neighbours from local leagues. No matter what the scores on the board every single team came off track amid masses of high fives and hugs. Not a single Unforgivable Curse was uttered because the level of sportspersonship was so high! 

Individual awards were as follows:

Tournament Best Blocker: Gibb (Bairn City Rollers)
Tournament Best Jammer: Momo (Granite City Brawlers)
Tournament MVP: Kami-Tazzy (Granite City Roller Derby)

We would like to thank FVRG for hosting such a Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tournament and would award them the top grade of O for Outstanding! The organisation on the lead up and the care taken on the day far Exceeded Expectations. We'd also like to thank all the Officials, Ministry of Magic staff, announcers, photographers, and everyone else involved for making it such an enjoyable experience.

Mischief Managed! 

Game Report: Maiden Grrders at Great Yorkshire Showdown 17.9.16

One Saturday back in September, before the crack of dawn, the Maiden Grrders slithered out of bed and tried to convince themselves that being awake before 6am was good for them and character-building and wouldn't lead to serious long-term health issues. Except for bench manager Silvie Postlewaight who was up at 04:30 making guacamole because she's clearly some sort of statistical outlier or alien hybrid.

The reason behind the early rise was a longer-than-expected road trip to Halifax, of which a good proportion was spent navigating roadworks somewhere in Lanarkshire. We entertained ourselves with a Best Onesie contest (there were TWO Totoros!) and a hard-fought Harry Potter quiz. Our bus driver was a total trooper and we cannot thank him enough for delivering everyone safely and just about in time for the Great Yorkshire Showdown.

Mad Natter, NitroJen & Sadie O'Hades waiting for the offense; photo courtesy of Roller Derby on Film.

The tournament, organised by Leeds Roller Dolls, saw six teams facing off to be ultimate champions: our Maiden Grrders, Halifax Bruising Banditas, Hereford Horror Bulls, Hot Wheel B Team, Manchester Roller Derby's Furies and Leeds' Whip-Its. In the group stage, the teams all played each other in thirty-minute games and the victor in each group went on to a final full-length game to decide the overall winner.

The Maidens' first game was against Halifax Bruising Banditas and was tough, to say the least. Our skaters were not long off the bus and only really started to get into their stride in the second half. They fought valiantly but sadly, that wasn't enough and they lost.

Final score: GRD Maiden Grrders 24 - 187 Halifax Bruising Banditas.

Stinger Belle & Penny Pinch'er holding back the Halifax jammer; photo courtesy of Roller Derby on FIlm.

After a brief respite while our opponents played each other, the Maidens were soon back on track to face up to the Hereford Horror Bulls. It was another hard game for GRD but they retained more control than the first and were able to put some more points past the opposition. Despite some great team work, they were again defeated but learned a lot from their experience and they'll be putting that all to good use in the future.

Final score: GRD Maiden Grrders 68 - 125 Hereford Roller Girls.

Spin Diesel on the jam line while our blockers are ready for the Hereford jammer; photo courtesy of Roller Derby on Film.

The final was played between Halifax Bruising Banditas and Leeds Whip-Its, with Halifax taking the tournament title.

We'd like to thank the organisers and all the teams, officials and other support staff who made the day possible!