Leeds Roller Dolls’ travel team the Rotten Rollers – 274
Sheffield Steel Rollergirls – 58
Summer Horror Day, August 22nd, Savile’s Hall Leeds Royal Armouries.
Most Valuable Player for LRD: Nuclear Missile
Most valuable player for SSRG: Skate Crasher
Whoop! We debuted our shiny new travel team the Rotten Rollers and scoop our first win while hosting the great Yorkshire public’s first taste of roller derby mayhem. Oh wait – did I say “shiny new” about the Rotten Rollers? I mean, of course, grimy from the grave reanimated undead roller queens of the track.
Our first home bout! It was amazing, a real team effort off and on-track. From the “You touch-a our jammer, we smash-a your face” apple and blackberry jam on our merch tables, through the cool calm mockney cockney hands of our very own Dot Rotten as bout manager, to the bench team of skaters and line up managers. The atmosphere was all warm and cuddly, our Sheffield sistren hopefully made welcome and warming up on track alongside us. Warm and cuddly, yes. Warm and cuddly until one dreadful moment: there the Rotten Rollers were… skating dreamily along to the strains of Cliff Richard’s monster hit, “Summer Holiday”, when oh! terrible! – the record skipped, scratched, metamorphosed into the Misfits’ “Die Die My Darling”. Our summer holiday derby love-in had become a Summer Horror Day: The Rotten Rollers fell flat onto the track. And then slowly, horribly, reanimated. They became the fearsome force that was to go on to dominate the game.
The first half was mainly dominated by the Rotten Rollers. The nerves of the Sheffield ladies showed in the first couple of jams, but their steel shone through and they were soon defiantly holding their own. Leeds’ jammers including Bruise ‘em Banshee and captain Rushin’ Doll proved too nimble for Sheffield to hold back. Gorgon Roller skipped through the pack with her trademark fancy footwork. A Leeds lead grew inexorably.
The game paused for a half time zombie competition, voted for by crowd cheers and won by a very bloody young gent.
In the second period Sheffield had regrouped. Their blockers held firm, and more than one Rotten Roller jammer was downed onto the track as a result. The home crowd cheered wildly as Sheffield rallied. But our unstoppable Vandal Liza roused cheers of her very own as she zoomed through the pack as if they weren’t even there.
That’s not to say that the Sheffield jammers were to be taken lightly. Skate Crasher and captain Rabid Kitten made the Rotten Rollers call on every trick they had in the pack to try to stop them.
We were hungry for our first win (and for brains of course – this was a Horror Day after all) and, as you will know if you’ve ever seen a Romero film, ZOMBIES ALWAYS WIN.
Who will be next and what will be left of them? Oh hello, that would be the Quad Squad in the Northern Expo. Pity them dear reader, the Rotten Rollers cannot rest in peace while other teams still walk the land of the living.
Enormous thanks to Royal Armouries, FAB cafe, Tamsin’s awesome zombie make up, Deep Freeze and Big Cat Merv’s announcements, Eddie and Mr Kalamity for the artworks, KT and Jason for the media and listings help, Disco Dave and all the referees, non skating officials and support staff from Leeds Roller Dolls, Sheffield Steel Rollergirls and our lovely brilliant and shining UK roller derby sistren and brethren*. Lastly thanks to the skaters themselves. Leeds has never seen the like before, but from the crowd reaction they will be queueing around the proverbial block to see the Rotten Rollers again.
Next up:
Northern EXPOsure
Middlesbrough Milk Rollers v Leeds Roller Dolls’ Rotten Rollers v Central City Rollergirls v The Quad Squad
19th September, The Dolphin Centre, Darlington
£free – email boroskates@hotmail.co.uk for tickets and info
*Sorry I don’t know all the urls for your websites and blogs, please add them as comments below.
Amazing photography from the bout here: http://www.jason-ruffell.co.uk/roller-derby.html
Written by Rikkter Scale #21, skater for LRD
What can I say? The bout was brilliant, from start to finish, and the Sheffield girls were amazing too.
Yes, it’s a fact that the Quad Squad have been drawn against you at Northern Expo – bring it on ladies!
Much love,
Skatrix xx