Fort Wayne, IN

London takes third, final Champs slot; Montreal finished fourth

By Whacks Poetic

In what has become a classic playoff match up, Montreal Roller Derby from Montreal, Quebec, Canada, took on the London Rollergirls from London, United Kingdom, for third place an opportunity to play in the 2013 WFTDA Championships this year. Neither team has made it to Championships in previous years and either would be the WFTDA’s first competitor from outside the United States at the organization's marquee tournament. London’s walls, dogged persistence and recycling would see the English team advance to Championships this year and earn third place at this Playoff, finishing the game 101 points ahead of their Canadian counter parts, 230-129.

While Montreal had moments of brilliance, London dominated for most of the game. The first half would see multiple swings in momentum with London leading at the half 131-61. After an initial one-point jam for London, Georgia W. Tush took lead quickly in the second jam, putting up three points before London’s Rogue Runner hit the back of the pack. Iron Wench took lead jammer for Montreal in the third jam and grabbed four points. Greta Bobo took lead jammer status running up the inside line and got another four points for the Canadians. Iron Wench gave Montreal their fourth lead jammer in a row despite initially being recycled by London’s Olivia Coupe. After five jams, the score would favor Montreal 16-1.

© Bob Dunnell

The momentum would shift towards London, however. In the sixth jam, Lexi Lightspeed would end Montreal’s lead jammer streak and lap Montreal’s Mel E Juana prior to being sent off for a track cut. Montreal was unable to capitalize on the power jam with Mel E Juana illegally calling off the jam. Jam seven would start with both jammers in the penalty box and London about to go on their first power jam. Lexi Lightspeed quickly picked up lead and 5 points, avoiding Montreal’s sole blocker on the track, before Mel E Juana was released from the box. Before completing her initial pass, Mel E Juana returned to the box on a track cut and London re-took the lead, 35-21. Lexi Lightspeed passed the star to Stef Mainey who continued racking up grand slams for London. After 9 minutes the score stood at 35-21 for the English team. Kamikaze Kitten would pick up 14 points for her team before Mel E Juana could score any points. Rogue Runner scored four points in the next jam in the middle of a London a 57-2 point run.

With the score at 62-23, Montreal's Georgia W. Tush would pick up her second lead jammer status in as many jams wearing the star and added 3 points to her team's total, resulting in a palindromic score of 62-26 for London slightly over halfway through the period. Lil’ Mama got Montreal’s second lead jam status in a row, lapping Lexi Lightspeed to earn 5 points. Iron Wench picked up lead jammer and three points as Montreal attempted to nickel-and-dime their way closer to London. Greta Bobo would pick up lead for Montreal making it four leads in a row for four different Montreal jammers and London’s Rogue Runner would be sent to the box, giving Montreal the opportunity they were looking for to close the gap. Bobo would score 13 points before calling it off allowing Iron Wench to start unopposed as Rogue Runner sat in the box.

However, Iron Wench briefly picked up her outside foot while straddling the line resulting in a track cut which released Rogue Runner. Rogue proved to have difficulty with the Montreal blockers and passed the jammer cover to Stef Mainey. With seven minutes remaining in the half, London led 71-59 and had momentum in their favor. Lady Go-go took to the jammer line for the first time and was rewarded with lead jammer against 2 Montreal blockers, putting up 13 points. Kamikaze Kitten earned lead as London’s blockers drew Iron Wench to the back of the pack off the jam start. Montreal appeared to have trouble keeping their blockers on the track and Kamikaze Kitten put up 20 points with Iron Wench never making it out of the pack. Lexi Lightspeed put up a quick 4 points while facing only 2 Montreal blockers. As the half neared an end, Greta Bobo provided a glimmer of hope for Montreal, earning lead jammer. However, on her first scoring pass, she back blocked a London skater and London found themselves to have the sole jammer on the track. As the dust settled on the first half, the score read 131-61.

© Bob Dunnell

The second half would see the London team grow even stronger. Kamikaze Kitten got the first lead jammer status of the second half, putting up 10 points as Iron Wench passed the star to Jess Bandit in order to get Montreal onto a scoring pass. Georgia W. Tush grabbed lead in the second jam and managed a single point before Rogue Runner hit the back of the pack. In the next jam, Stef Mainey picked up a forearm on the inotial straightaway and gave Iron Wench a power jam. Surgical Strike provided some offensive blocking for the Montreal jammer and Montreal managed to grab 20 points. Lil’ Mama would start the next jam unopposed with Mainey standing in the box. Lil’ Mama picked up lead and two track cuts and London’s lead would grow to 70. Kamikaze Kitten managed to add 25 points facing only two Montreal blockers before Mama returned to the track after her second penalty.

Nine minutes into the second half, the score read 181-86. The next jam saw Rogue Runner go to the box twice and Iron Wench managed to put up 13 points for the Canadians. Following this glimmer of hope, Greta Bobo took to the line with Rogue Runner standing in the box. Unfortunately, she picked up a back block on her initial pass and Rogue Runner would go on to win the jam 5-4. The next fourteen jams would see clean skating by the jammers with London and Montreal trading single scoring passes for most of them. Going into the final jam the score stood at 225-117, Georgia W. Tush starting on the line for Montreal and Lady Go-go for London. Lady Go-go picked up lead jammer against the two Montreal blockers who were on the track but was sent to the box on her first scoring pass. Georgia W. Tush would manage to put up 12 points to Lady Go-go’s five during the jam with the final score of the game being 230-129 for London.

With this win, the London Rollergirls will be playing at 2013 WFTDA Championships November 8th-10th in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

“We played really well like a team," said Ewan Wotarmy, Montreal Coach. "Things could have gone better for us of course. We played every jam like it was new game. We were calm and persistent on the track and that was as good as we could have expected.”

“We got close last year [to going to Championships]. So before this game it was remember what that felt like, I don’t wanna go through that again so let’s make sure we put this game to bed," said Ballistic Whistle, London Coach. "Being 70 points up at halftime there was still a lot to do but the team banded together and played the game 30 seconds at a time.”

Final Score

(4) London Rollergirls 230
(2) Montréal Roller Derby 129