Suffra Jets vs Ultraviolent Femmes - Saturday, June 19th.
The still-undefeated Suffra Jets beat the Ultraviolent Femmes by 15 points on Saturday, at a nail-biting closed-doors bout in Tottenham.
It was a hard-fought game, the first of two that the Femmes would be playing over the weekend, and some radical line-up rotations suggested that they had some new tricks up their white-and-green sleeves. UFs captain Kamikaze Kitten started the first period jamming three times in a row, and continued with a three-on, one-off rotation for much of the first half, and Lola Volkano, Ninjette and Vagablonde filling in the gaps.
The Suffra Jets stuck to a more familiar line-up, with the nippy Lyla La Tiger and all-star players Grievous Bodily Charm and Poison Arrow taking it in turns on the jammer line, with Helen Nash and Stefanie Mainey stepping up to jam once each.
The Suffra Jets, as always, played a formidable, tactical game, with The Bexorcist keeping the front strong, and Stefanie Mainey acting as a one-woman wall at the back of the pack. But the Ultraviolents were no pushover: there was some great defensive jamming from Kami and the rest, who teamed up with their back players to ensure the Suffra Jet jammer was caught at the back of the pack, before zooming off to get points themselves.
Vagablonde’s agile juking saw her dance her way through packs that looked impenetrable, and Kamikaze’s sudden bursts of speed often foxed solid SJ walls who thought they’d got her covered. But the first period saw the Suffra Jets consistently coming out on top, chipping away a couple of points at a time, until eleven jams in the scoreline read 42 to the Suffra Jets, 7 to the Ultraviolent Femmes. After that, either the SJs let their guard down, or the UFs got on the Red Bull, because after a series of great jams by Kami, Ninjette and Vagablonde, Kami scored 10 points to Helen Nash’s 0, and things were starting to look up for the Femmes. From then on, the Suffra Jets didn’t score for the next handful of jams, and the period clock stopped on score of 48-29 to the Suffra Jets.
The Ultraviolents’ strong streak didn’t end there. They came storming out of the first jam of the second period with a 14-point power jam by Kami, who stepped straight back up to the jammer line to rack up 9 more points, putting the Ultraviolents in the lead, 52-48. For the first time in a long time, the Suffra Jets were looking worried. Happily for them, and unluckily for the Ultraviolents, Lola got sent to the box as jammer in the next jam, and with Stefanie Mainey helping slow the pack to a crawl, Grievous Bodily Charm was able to regain the lead for the SJs, 58-52. A couple of jams later, and with the same jammers, Lola was boxed again, allowing Grievous to rack up another 11 points for the SJs, who were starting to breathe easier as the score was firmly back in their favour, 77-53.
The rest of the game was some of the most intense derby LRG has seen, but the Suffra Jets managed to maintain that lead, despite Poison Arrow having to serve two consecutive minutes as jammer, due to exiting the box before her initial minute had expired. As the weary players lined up for the final jam, the score was 89-74, and the Suffra Jets weren’t taking any chances. They put out their strongest player, Stefanie Mainey, up to jam, with the Ultraviolents fielding Vagablonde. The Suffra Jets were slow off the line, hoping to run down the clock, and after being held at the back of the pack by the Ultraviolents’ Liv or Die for a few seconds, Stefanie managed to fight through and get lead jammer. Watching the clock until it ran down to zero, Stefanie called it for a 0-0 jam, ensuring the Suffra Jet’s victory, once again.
Steam Rollers vs Ultraviolent Femmes - Sunday, June 20th.
The Ultraviolent Femmes won their first intra-league bout on Sunday, against the Steam Rollers, in their second gruelling game of the weekend. With the final score standing at 101-70, the Ultraviolents have got the points they need to go through to the final, where they will once again battle with the undefeated Suffra Jets.
UF captain Kamikaze Kitten stuck to a blocker position at the back of the pack for much of the first half of the game, while Vagablonde, Ninjette and Lola took it in turns on the jammer line. Meanwhile, over at camp Steam Roller, Axis of Evon and Sky Rockit alternated as jammer for most of the bout, with a couple of jams by travel team pack skater Nuke Leah.
The UFs had proved the day before that they were a re-invigorated team, with stamina, style and ultra-tactical play. Dominating the back of the pack, Sinister Mary Clarence and Kamikaze Kitten proved a mighty force against the Steam Roller jammers, with Ninjette and Liv Or Die wreaking havoc on the Steam Rollers’ defence at the middle and front.
The scores were close throughout, with Axis of Evon shining as a Steam Roller jammer, and Fox and Ena delivering some spine-crunching hits, but the Ultraviolents had expert control of the pack speed, and they stayed on top throughout the second period. Not wanting to lose their lead in the last minutes of the game, Kamikaze Kitten bravely jammed on a dangerous three minor penalties during the closing minutes, and ensured her team came out on top, with a score of 101-70.
There was one undisputed penalty queen of the game – Sinister Mary Clarence was one minor away from being ejected from the game after six trips to the box – but the prize for most amusing penalty goes to Fox Sake, who got called for a forearms block for hugging Kamikaze Kitten after the first whistle was blown. Let’s hope she saves her love for the afterparty on July 17th, when the Steam Rollers will play the Rainy City Rollergirls as a warm-up to the season championship final, between the Suffra Jets and the Ultraviolent Femmes.
