The ladies from Forest City Derby Girls out of London, Ontario came to town last weekend after taking home the Blood Spill on the Hill trophy a week earlier, and they came looking for more blood. They also came with not just one, but two teams, looking to do a double over the ladies from the Rideau Valley Roller Girls.
The Thames Fatales, FCDG's senior squad, faced off against RVRG's Slaughter Daughters in the first bout of the night at the Sandy Hill Arena. They were skating without their captain Anya Face who was taken to hospital with a broken ankle during the final of the tournament. The Thames rotated through three major jammers for most of the bout, having brought along #187 Killson and #5446 Slacker Smacker from the travel team that came down the week before, and added #25c Piepshow to the rotation. The Slaughter Daughters only needed #55 Soul Rekker, and #888 Ripper A. Part as their counters.
The Thames scored first blood, with Killson running a quick 4 point jam before calling it off. Slacker Smacker had a relatively slow start against the Slaughter Daughter's defensive wall during her first jam, but did manage to score points on her second attempt.
The first half dozen jams were defensively played as each team probed the other's pack for weaknesses, and the breakthrough came after 10 minutes or so as Soul Rekker deked and dodged her way to a huge 25 points during the first power jam of the night, taking the lead to a substantial 41-9. The Thames never looked to recover after that, and the Slaughter Daughters were able to systematically widen the gap as the bout progressed.
Killson was, of course, as agile and tough as ever, at times breezing through the pack as if they were standing still, but she wasnt able to accomplish a great deal as she would repeatedly take lead jammer but have to call off the jam after a quick scoring pass as her pack was unable to contain the opposing jammer, who was often quick on her heels. Still, she was has quickly become my favourite jammer, possibly of all time, as her speed, her dodging, and her ability to take big hits without going down or being pushed out of bounds makes her an ideal scoring player.
A power jam for the Thames Fatales in the 12th and 13th jam allowed Slacker Smacker and Killson to cut the lead down by 10 and 5 points respectively. Another power jam with 3 minutes left in the half gave Piepshow a similar chance, but the Slaughter Daughters pack were quite effective at keeping her pinned and Ripper A. Part was able to jump from the box and take lead jammer, which ultimately resulted in a scoreless jam after all that effort as the jam clock ran out.
The halftime score was 76 to 36.
Killson was again able to draw first blood in the second half, with a very quick 2 point jam, but she found herself in the box at the end of it, giving the Slaughter Daughters 10 more unanswered points in the resulting power jam.
The power jam was the story of the second half, as both teams had jammers in the box more often than not, it seemed. The Slaughter Daughters were better able to capitalize from the situation, rarely scoring less than 10 points when their jammer was skating alone on the track, while the Thames Fatales rarely made more than a single scoring pass when it was their turn.
The final ended up Slaughter Daughters 183, Thames Fatales 55.
The second bout of the night saw the Luscious Lunch Ladies against RVRG's Riot Squad. The LLL went through a steady rotation of captain #4 Mighty Thor, #e0a Andy Slamberg (who both played big roles in the Forest City win at Blood Spill on the Hill) and added #L7 Box Kick Betty as their main jammers during the first half, and also rotated in #B34 Bloodlust Barbie and #212 Grisly Blaire as they tried to find a way through the Riot Squad's pack lineup. The Riot Squad, on the other hand, ran a steady rotation of #5.2 Death from Below, #1.5oz Arsenic Martini, and #333 Crash Karma as their jammers.
Crash Karma took an early major cutting penalty, which gave LLL an early power jam. They were unable to capitalize as Box Kick Betty was also called for a major of her own during her first scoring pass. Crash Karma, released from the sin bin early, quickly rounded the track and scored an easy 5 points for the Riot Squad.
The Riot Squad took an early 21 point lead after the first 8 minutes, and Arsenic Martini was able to add to the gap as she scored 10 points in a 5 on 5 jam. Halfway through the first period, Andi Slamberg was sent to the box, giving Death from Below (who has a huge following in Ottawa, with fans chanting her name every time she takes the her place behind the jammer line) a 13 point jam, putting the Riot Squad even further in the lead.
There was a lengthy break taken midway through the first period due to moisture buildup on the track. This was caused by an incredibly humid atmosphere after a day full of rain meeting the cold concrete slab that made up the skating surface. Any sort of moisture on the track causes the skates to slide as if they were on ice, so for safety's sake, the game was temporarily suspended as the refs and volunteers used paper towels, giant fans and de-humidifiers to dry the slick surface. The rest of the second half was called off, and the gap was rolled over into halftime, and after 45 minutes or so, the second half began.
The score, when play resumed, was 72 to 12.
The second half started with Crash Karma taking an early lead jammer, but after getting sent to the box for a major cutting penalty, the Mighty Thor was able to capitalize for a huge 19 point gain. The very next jam saw DFB taking 3 points, but she was also sent to the box, and this time it was Box Kick Betty who capitalized, and all of a sudden, the Riot Squad's 60 point lead was down to only 34.
It wasnt long for the Riot Squad to answer back with a power jam of their own as Andi Slamberg was called for a major back block and DFB picked up 15 points for her side on the next jam.
Of course, the power jam again ruled the second half as Crash Karma then found herself in the box, joined by Margaret Choke and Mudblood, which gave Box Kick Betty and her pack a serious advantage, and 10 more points for the Lunch Ladies. There were one sided battles in almost every jam as both teams ran their respective scores up, but the Riot Squad were able to maintain their substantial lead from the first half.
In the penultimate jam, Arsenic Martini lined up against the Mighty Thor, and scored a big 15 points as her pack kept Thor pinned behind them for the entire jam.
The final score for the second bout of the night was Riot Squad 161, Luscious Lunch Ladies 97
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