BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND -- Making roller derby history again, the Birmingham Blitz Derby Dames hosted the Germany's first roller derby league, the Stuttgart Valley Rollergirlz, in the first ever pan-European bout held in the UK. Both leagues seemed closely matched in terms of physical size, experience, speed and strength, and the final score reflected that -- Birmingham led for nearly the entire bout, but was never able to extend their lead over 20 points and needed a defensive stand at the end to hold off Stuttgart Valley by just six points, 81-75.

Birmingham came in without two of their most experienced and strongest players, Bee Sting (injury) and Sleazy Rider (work obligations) but were bolstered by the presence of Helen Fury, who stepped in at short notice after being originally unavailable to skate this bout. Each team skated with 12, however Birmingham jammer Roisin Roulette played ill and seemed not to be skating at her best -- potentially a problem since Birmingham were already short of jammers, with another jammer, Tear E Hatchet, just back from injury.  Victoria Cross made her bouting debut for Birmingham as a blocker.

First Half

Scoring was close for the first few jams as the skaters sussed each other out.  Jam 1 of the first period was Tear E Hatchet for Birmingham against Blitzkrieg Baby for Stuttgart. Hatchet took lead jammer, but scored zero points.  In the second jam, Violet Attack for Birmingham got lead jammer and called it off just as SVRG's Dolly BustHer hit the pack, scoring only one point. Birmingham's blockers Helen Fury and Union Jack-U-Up were delivering some heavy hits, with Violet Attack jamming and blocking at the same time with her usual forceful impact.

Jam 3 found Hilda Blizzhard for Birmingham against Miss Tsunami. Tsunami took lead and a quick 4-0. Jam 4 would be Birmingham's Roisin Roulette first and last jam as she got lead and a 2-0 against Stuttgart's Polly Purgatory. This moved the score to Birmingham 6, Stuttgart 5, but hough Roisin would not return to the bout after this jam, leaving the UK skaters with 11 players. The UK’s youngest rollergirl, Gun Bunny, would step in as an emergency jamming replacement.

The bout would continue to go neck and neck until the 12th jam, where Birmingham got some daylight as lead jammer Hilda Blizzard dropped an 8-0 on Blitzkrieg Baby, making the score 30-20 in favor of the home team..

Jam 16 had a bit of a scary moment after Gun Bunny took lead lead jammer and a 4-0 over Blitzkrieg Baby. After the jam was called off, Gun Bunny was taken out in a very hard hit, from Stuttgart player Miss Tsunami, who received a major and was sent off.  An official time out was called whilst Gun Bunny was checked out by the on-site medical technicians, but she'd be okay to return to play.

As the half wore down, it seemed the Birmingham Dames were beginning to feel  the strain of being down a jammer as Roisin Roulette was out for the game with sickness. Skaters were required to skate more often with fewer breaks and this would become increasingly evident in the second half.  Less experienced skaters for Birmingham, such as Diamondback Belle and Victoria Cross, had to skate more often than planned. At this stage the entire lineup plan was re-jigged by the very capable Von Bitch and Jack Attack from the London Rockin Rollers, who were managing the line ups as honorary Blitz Dames for the bout.

Birmingham finished the half very strong. On jam 17 Tear E Hatchet gained lead jammer and four points for Birmingham as Public Enemy failed to score, and on the final jam of the first period, Hilda Blizzhard took a 9-6 over Polly Purgatory, extending Birmingham's lead to 49-30 going into the intermission.

Second Half

Birmingham’s defensive tactic in the pack seemed to be paying off but Stuttgart responded and differences in playing style became apparent. The Stuttgart girls played a quite physical game and there seemed to be a bit of confusion as to the rules concerning blocking out of bounds and cutting the track under WFTDA 3.1; head ref Justine Credible kept the proceedings in order despite a number of official time outs ... and language barriers.

The second half began as it was notable that Stuttgart changed up their game responding in kind to the Dames tactical approach and had lead jammer seven times to Birmingham's three, with several jams lasting a full two minutes as neither jammer made it through without penalties - whether due to tired jammers or tighter blocking. Both teams made good use of walls at the front of the pack.  All the blockers kept each other busy, and got right back into it after taking hits.

Stuttgart began to come back early, winning the first three jams of the half and shaving 10 points off the Birmingham lead to make it 56-47 after a full-length jam 4 between Violet Attack (BBDD) and Polly Purgatory (SVRG).

But Birmingham would start taking. the initiative back on the fifth jam. Tear E Hatchet, jamming for Birmingham, managed to pull out a 4-3 win even though opposing jammer Public Enemy had lead jammer status, and to follow it up, Gun Bunny continued to shine in her emergency jamming role, taking an 8-4 over Blitzkrieg Baby.

At this point Birmingham led 68-54, and they got more momentum on another full-length, hard-fought jam between Violet Attack and Public Enemy that went 6-3 for Violet, making it 74-57 and nearly equalling Birmingham's biggest lead of the bout. Stuttgart would launch a comeback at this point, though, and almost brought it home, holding Birmingham to only 7 more points while scoring 18 of their own.

The big move would come on the tenth jam of the half, as Hilda Blizzhard jammed against Blitzkrieg Baby. Helen Fury was sent off to the penalty box and though Birmingham blocker Union Jack-U-Up did exactly that to Blitzkrieg Baby with a a stunning jammer takeout, Baby was able to take advantage of a full two minutes to score a 9-3 win that gave a much needed boost to the visiting team.

Stuttgart clawed closer on the next jam, as Birmingham jammer Tear E Hatchet got tripped by blocker Blitzkrieg Baby who was sent off by the referees for a major penalty. Public Enemy was lead jammer, but Birmingham blockers Helen Fury and Violet Attack combined well to hold Public Enemy back and only allowing two points before Tear E Hatchet caught up and forced Public Enemy to call it.

It was then 77-69, and the visitors had once again gotten the deficit to single digits -- and narrowed it further with a 4-0 for Polly Purgatory against Union Jack-U-Up to make it 77-73 with under 5 minutes to play. That'd be followed by an impressive 0-0 penalty killing jam for Stuttgart, as they lost their lead jammer Blitzkrieg Baby to a penalty but denied any points to opposing jammer Violet Attack.

WIth very little time left on the clock, defense would win the game for Birmingham. Tear E Hatchet got Birmingham a critical 4-2 jam win as a  Birmingham defensive dream team of Helen Fury, Hilda Blizzhard and Union Jack-U-Up combined to hamper Stuttgart jammer Polly Purgatory.

This left the score at 81-75 going into what would be the bout's final jam. Birmingham jammer Violet Attack came out again against Blitzkrieg Baby; knowing that if the scores remained the same it was a Birmingham victory, Violet Attack got in front of her opposing jammer and did some amazing positional blocking preventing the Stuttgart jammer from scoring at all as neither jammer passed through the startled pack a second time.  Some of the crowd were confused, with Violet Attack receiving boos from the Stuttgart supporters but cheers from those supporting Birmingham. This was a fine demonstration of tactical thinking, positional blocking and the power of a properly deployed backside winning it for Birmingham (and England!) 81-75.

Birmingham will travel to Stuttgart, Germany on 31st January 2009 for the rematch.

BIRMINGHAM

16 Violet Attack - Captain  // 333 Union Jack-U-Up - Co Captain  // N17 Roisin Roulette // 57 Tear E Hatchet  // 52 Hilda BlizzHard  // 10 Helen Fury  // 79 Kiki Kasplat  // 14U Saintly sin  // 11 Elle Fire  // 27 Victoria Cross  //888 Gun Bunny  // 77 Diamondback Belle  
 
STUTTGART  
 
21 Miss Tsunami - Captain  // 7 Dolly BustHer – Co-Captain  // 13 Polly Purgatory   // 187 Evil-Lynn  // 6 Rambona  // 17 Noxious Angel  // 20 Spin Up  // 85 Public Enemy  // 99 Miss LizzFits   // 16 Teazer  // 81 Titty-Twista  // 9 Blitzkrieg Baby