Match report: Catherine Wheelds versus Firewrecks
Saturday 5th November, Sugden Centre, Manchester.
Saturday 5th November 2011 saw the Wirral Whipiteres travel to Manchester to play in a rookie bout as part of “Bonfire Fight: Gunpowder, Treason & BLOCK”.
Seven Whipiteres were asked to join rookie skaters from Manchester Roller Derby on the Catherine Wheelds team. The Catherine Wheelds were taking on The Firewrecks, a rookie team consisting of players from the Dublin Roller Girls, Liverpool Roller Birds and Preston Roller Girls.
The start whistle blew promptly at 2 pm and The Firewrecks took an early lead in the first two Jams. The first of the Whipiteres’ jammers, Wacko Maria, stepped up in Jam 3 and put in an impressive lead jammer performance. This was closely Ruby Zoom and Lula Doom who led in Jams 4 and 5, respectively.
Jam 6 was marked by the “lost pantie”. The helmet cover (commonly known as ‘pantie’) in question popped off of Catherine Wheelds jammer’s (sorry, name unknown – I was biased towards the Whipiteres!) helmet on her second lap of the track during a power jam situation (Firewrecks’ jammer was in the box). This meant she was unable to score any points until she replaced the pantie. Despite the crowd all screaming “get the pantie” a few more laps were completed until Whipitere Ruby Zoom realised what was happening and retrieved the offending pantie. Unfortunately, the rules prevented her from passing the pantie to the jammer, but she alerted her to the situation, and the pantie was quickly put back in place, allowing the Catherine Wheelds to take advantage of the remaining seconds of the power jam.
The first half finished shortly afterwards, with a very close score of 40 to the Firewrecks versus 33 to the Catherine Wheelds.
I don’t know what The Firewrecks were drinking at half-time, but they opened the second half on blazing form and quickly extended their lead.
In spite of this, The Catherine Wheelds continued to work hard to prevent the gap widening further, with Aggropelter, Knit-One Hit-One, and Wacko Maria showing great wall building and communication within the pack. There was also some fine chasing down of a Firewrecks jammer by Ruby Zoom in Jam 11. She just wouldn’t let her go!
Jams 14 and 21, saw Lula Doom step up to the jam line again and show the Firewrecks exactly why she deserved to win the “best jammer” accolade. Two great jams with vital points earnt by The Catherine Wheelds.
The final score was 103 to the Firewrecks, 57 to the Catherine Wheelds, but the difference in score was not a true reflection of how well The Catherine Wheelds played together, despite some of the players only meeting each other on the morning of the bout.
Well done to all the Catherine Wheelds players: Ruby Zoom, Lula Doom, Wacko Maria, Aggropelter and Knit-One Hit-One, from the Whipiteres and Spozilla (Captain), Faunication, Roller Du-sco, Penny Pinch Er, Erin Bomber Titch, Nyte Owl, Skulldozer, Kerried Alive (Bench manager) and Suffra-Jett (Line up manager) from MRD.
Whipiteres Tan’ya Cheex and Eva Diss’truction also deserve a special mention because they were rostered but unable to play.
Finally, The Whipiteres congratulate The Firewrecks on their win. Well done Luna Tick (Captain), Anneka Vice, Deadblock Gem, Wheely Whippy, Basha Bloodaxe, String Her Belle, Yolanda B.Cruel, Dita Von T Stop, Miss Ann Trippy, Kandi Sptifire, Bloody Harry, Jewel Hurt, Xena Reef-er, Black Eye Bock-Scar, Vic Tori Bee (Bench .anager) and Yoko K.O (Line up manager).
Reporting by Lean Machine.
