THE BIGCAT RECAP- SUMMER SHOVIN’ HAPPENED SO FAST!
For those of you who have not been fans of the London Rollergirls from the very beginning, here’s a brief history lesson…
September 2007… Our first ever public bout, and Team Pink and Team Black line up. Nobody quite knows what to expect… But at the end of the day, Team Black comes out victorious, 100-77
January 2008… Team Pink are out for revenge. It’s a really close fought battle, even at the end of the second period, but at the end of the 3rd, Team Pink have it, 96-77…
Which then leads us to the present day, and Summer Shovin’. It’s the last bout before Teams Pink and Black are retired, but not one London Rollergirl was planning on using that as an excuse to take it easy, so would Black be beaten and bruised, or would Pink be pulverised? One team had to walk away with that 2-1 victory…
It was a slow start all round, with the first jam ending scoreless. Poison Arrow had gained lead jammer status for Black, only to call off the jam before scoring any points. The second jam of the afternoon found the LRG’s two star jammers lining up against each other for the first time of many, with Kitty DeCapitate getting the upper hand over Sky Rockit on this occasion, scoring 4 for Black, partly thanks to Pink Captain Fox Sake being sent to the penalty box for the first of her 3 major penalties in the game. The 3rd jam was again scoreless, due to Missyle Elliott taking a blow to the face and the jam being called off. The lead was slightly extended in the 4th jam, before Team Pink started getting into their stride, Sky Rockit and Belle DeBrawl scoring 9 points each in the next two putting their team ahead by 20-9. Pink’s blockers did a great job of keeping Black’s most experienced and talented members at bay, with Correctional Felicity being kept especially quiet, scoring nothing in any of her 3 jams in the first period. Fox Sake in particular seemed to be targeting Correctional, landing a lovely hip check on her midway through the first period which nearly sent her crashing into the announcers table. In the next few jams, Black made some slight headway into Team Pink’s lead, before, in the tenth jam, both teams sent out a debutante jammer. Ninjette sped out of the traps and gained lead jammer status for Pink, with the intense Raw Heidi hot on her heels. However, Raw fell victim to the new, harsher, cutting track penalties in the rules and was sent to the penalty box for cutting past the last member of the pack. Ninjette took the opportunity and ran with it, scoring 10 points, the highest total ever recorded by a first time jammer in an LRG bout. Sky Rockit scored 3 more points in jam eleven whilst Raw Heidi finished up her penalty time, before in the 12th and final jam of the first period Kitty DeCapitate also fell foul of the same cutting track penalty that Raw Heidi had just two jams earlier, allowing Fox Sake to score 5 more for Pink. The period ended with Pink holding a commanding lead of 46-20
Team Black came out with their game face on in the second period. The first three jams of the period saw them pick up 11 points to Pink’s 2, with Kamikaze Kitten in particular making picking up lead jammer and then scoring 4 points look like a walk in the park. The Black tactic in the second period appeared to be to score little and often. They were concentrating on making sure their jammer was designated lead jammer, scoring 4 points and then calling the jam off. N-Emma-Si5 and Slice Andice were dominating the pack in the second period, and Team Pink were limited to just 7 points in the first 7 jams, and their lead had been cut to just 14 points. The remainder of the 2nd period was incredibly cagey. Team Pink didn’t want to let their lead slip, whilst Team Black were trying to nudge themselves back into the game little by little. Grievous Bodily Charm and Sky Rockit scored 3 and 4 respectively to stretch Pink’s lead, but then Kitty DeCapitate and Kamikaze Kitten scored 4 each for Black to bring us back to just a 13 point lead. In a blow for Team Pink, they lost Bette Noir toward the end of the period to a badly twisted ankle, so going in at the end of the period with a 16 point lead, after a good jam from Sky Rockit against Nuke-Leah, another Team Black debutante, it was going to be a very interesting 3rd period.
The period certainly started with a bang, as Sky Rockit, who was beaten down constantly by Kamikaze Kitten during the first jam, passed the star to pivot Belle DeBrawl. For those of you who don’t know, a jammer can take off their helmet panty and pass it to their pivot, who, once the panty is securely on their head becomes the new jammer for the remainder of the jam. However, it came right at the end of the jam, and as Belle was about to start picking up points as the new jammer the refs blew to say that the two minutes were up. Team Black’s slow but steady approach continued in the 3rd period, and they won or drew each of the first four 3rd period jams, Kamikaze Kitten, Kitty DeCapitate and Correctional Felicity all picking up points. It was Sky Rockit who stopped their momentum of course, picking up 4 points in both the 5th and 7th jams to put Pink up by 20 points. The next five jams saw Kitty DeCapitate pick up 7 points and Grievous Bodily Charm and Sky Rockit collect 7 between them, so we went into what would become the final jam of the day with a 20 point difference. Both teams finished as they had started with Drolma for Pink against Poison Arrow for Black. Drolma once again failed to pick up any points, but Poison Arrow, unaware it was to be the final jam, gained lead jammer status and kept going and going. For a while it looked like she might make up the difference all by herself, but time was against her and she had to make do with a fantastic 10 point jam. It was somehow fitting that the first person to score a Grandslam in a Pink Vs Black game was also the last, scoring a double Grandslam in the final jam of the final bout. So we ended with a final score of…
TEAM PINK 89 – 79 TEAM BLACK
As is now custom, we finished up with some post bout awards, With Kitty DeCapitate and Fox Sake picking up the Penalty Queen awards for their teams, and Belle DeBrawl and Kamikaze Kitten being named their team’s MVPs. The Crowd’s Rollergirl of the Match award once again went to Sky Rockit.
As per usual it was a fantastically organised event, with Sinister Mary Clarence, Char-Char Gabore and Moxie Blitz heading up the event crew. Thanks to every single one of you, especially Notorious E.V.E of Victorian Roller Derby League all the way from Melbourne, Australia for being a fantastic scoregirl! The photos you see here are by the very talented Al Overdrive, and the video is from the not at all bruised, but very much in pain Baron Von Strange. And as always, the biggest thanks to our amazing fans for once again braving the London Transport network to see us!
Next time we see you will be on September the 27th, once again at the Tottenham Green Leisure Centre. By this time the league will have split into three permanent teams, and it’ll be time for you to decide who you’ll be giving your support to during the coming year as we start our first ever league season! I’ll be back in the near future with a full Season Preview!
BigCatMerv- London Rollergirls Announcer
