British Champs Round 5 - Report
Photo courtesy of Barry Wimlett
Halifax Bruising Banditas 155 - 229 Granite City Roller Derby
Well what a game that was! Halifax Bruising Banditas gave everyone a bit of a shock in this round, including their rivals, Granite City Roller Derby.
Last year when we faced them the ladies from Aberdeen came away with a 226 - 72 victory which left us with no wins for the 2015 British Champs season. From then on we worked hard to build up the team and solidify our strategy. Meeting Granite City for the last game of the 2016 season seemed to be a wonderfully fitting way to end the competition and gauge how far we had come since last year.
Not only that but the game also proved to be a 1-2 tussle, Granite City and Halifax have held the top and second spots respectively since the start of the 2016 season. Not only that but with the way the table stood the second place spot was still up for grabs with ourselves, Spa Town and Blackpool in the running to take the number 2 spot. If Halifax could win by a big enough margin we could win the table but if we lost we'd have to rely on Blackpool beating Spa Town to ensure we kept our 2nd place. It was going to be an exciting day with everything to play for.
Without 2 of our jammer rotation missing we were going in down on numbers and giving the star to a mix of players in the squad, all of who stepped up to the challenge with skill.
Granite started strong but our defence proved to be more than capable of containing them. Our laterally moving walls prevented their jammers from gaining ground which meant they had to utilise their offence a lot more thereby weakening their own walls. Because of this Granite never got more than 30 points ahead for the majority of the first half. With 15 minutes gone in the first half the Banditas racked up a couple of high scoring jams thank to Granite City penalties and some cracking work by the Banditas packs. With 10 minutes to go before half time the Banditas found themselves in the lead! This was the first timeGranite City had been behind all season. The players from Aberdeen dug deep and found the skill to pull it back in time for the half time whistle.
In the second half the Banditas tried out a new tactic. By taking the pivot line the Banditas though the Granite City walls into disarray which the Banditas jammers took advantage of. The Granite City blockers quickly regained their equilibrium and settled back to stem the flow. The Banditas offence was dealt with deftly, with most attempts at disrupting the Granite walls skilfully avoided. Bu the Banditas played with skill, spirit and a level head which meant we were light on penalties and heavy of teamwork- something we’ve been working on in this latter half of the Champs season.
The game ended with Granite taking the win but it felt like we’d taken the victory. The Granite City ladies themselves mentioned how hard fought the win had been. The Banditas managed to double or score against Granite from last year while keeping them at the same level. It just goes to show hard work, trust and dedication can really pay off.
The second game of the day saw the hosts Spa Town Roller Girls face Blackpool Roller Derby. If Blackpool won by less than 100 points the Banditas would end up seance in the table, but if Spa Town won or Blackpool thrashed Spa Town then either one of these teams could end up second.
What an exciting game it was! The lead changed so many times it was hard to keep track! 2 players fouled out and one player got a bad injury. It was too close to call. With the final whistle blowing it looked like we’d have to have an overtime jam to decide the outcome but with a quick referees confer the points were tallied and Blackpool secured victory by 2 points! The game ended Spa Town 182 - 184 Blackpool.
And with that the Halifax Bruising Banditas finished the 2016 British Champs season second in the Tier 4 North table. We couldn’t be more proud of ourselves or more thankful to our volunteers and fans for keeping us going. Thank you so much!
Watch this space for more news on exciting things coming up and for news on British Champs 2017!
BANDITAS!
AVE IT!!!
Teams
Halifax Bruising Banditas
#6172 - Sonic Ruth - Captain
#7533 - Kim O'Kill - Vice Captain
#71 - Bob 'N' Weave
#99 - Gremlynn
#555 - Jo White
#45 - Rainbow Dash
#13 - Mayhem
#911 - Trauma Call
#912 - Furious Foo
#59 - Laffin' Assassin
#8 - Psycho
#LUM - Ali P
#BM - Scooby Zoom
Granite City Roller Derby
#19 - Udder Mayhem - Co-Captain
#407 - Jo Mamma
#03 - Yorkshire Whipper
#04 - Blitzkreig Boyle
#05 - Crimson Chaos
#09 Rock 'N' Riot
#17 - Berocca Bama
#111 - Clinically Wasted
#243 - Rapid Bash
#27 - Un-Fairley
#369 - Sho Time
#314 - ElizaDeath
#360 - Kami Tazzy
#37 - Guns 'N' Boises
#36 - Sour Clout
Awards
Halifax Bruising Banditas
Best Jammer - Sonic Ruth
Best Blocker - Kim O'Kill
MVP - Psycho
Cleanest Slate - Gremlynn
Banditas Spirit Award - Mayhem
Granite City Roller Derby
Best Jammer - Udder Mayhem
Best Blocker - Berroca Bama
MVP - Rock 'N' Riot
Cleanest Slate - Crimson Chaos
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