Adelaide Squeaks By Victorian Roller Derby, 136-134

By Beck Wise, Last updated Sun Sep 6 2009 6:26am

In a dusty hockey rink in suburban Melbourne, Australia, rollergirls were swinging from the rafters - a solid six hours before the afterparty even starts. Any night that starts like this has to end well. It's the setup for the second annual Skate of Origin bout, held on August 22 between the Adelaide Roller Derby's Adeladies and the Victorian Roller Derby League's All-Stars, and as the audience begins to trickle in and final preparations are made, Adelaide's Pixie Pincher and Smooch have clambered to the ceiling to hang a giant banner over their supporters.

The first Skate of Origin game – in fact, the first interleague game ever played in Australia – was held in Adelaide in February 2008 and it was a hotly contested bout, with just three points separating the final scores. In a nailbiter, the VRDL took home the trophy.

Eighteen months later, the Adeladies arrived in Melbourne determined to win it back from the thus-far undefeated VRDL All-Stars. Expectations were high for a thrilling game and the skaters certainly delivered, with the scores tied at half-time and the end of regulation time. Play continued into a second overtime jam before a winner could be determined.

Big City Bruisers vs. Bloody Marys

The undercard bout for the evening saw VRDL's Big City Bruisers go head to head with the Geelong Roller Derby League's Bloody Marys. Just 75km apart, the Victorian and Geelong leagues have established a sister-league relationship, with all the support and rivalry that term implies, and the two teams have played each other regularly in recent months. In their last game, a month prior, a late comeback by the Bloody Marys wasn't enough to snatch victory from their older sisters with the final score standing at 155-147 in favour of the VRDL. This time around, a series of big scores by GRDL jammers Nine Lives Isis, Mary Poppinskulls and Anita Destroy saw the Bloody Marys serve the VRDL team its first at-home defeat.

The early part of the game was dominated by the Big City Bruisers. With Bloody Marys jammer Ace of Hearts cooling her heels in the sin bin on two separate trips, Mandytory Punishment put up a 14 point jam to help the Bruisers open a 25 point lead by the end of the third jam. The Marys quickly fought back, with Nine Lives Isis adding 16 points to her team's total, but VRDL continued to hold their lead with Foxy Terrier, Mandytory Punishment, Rock the Casper and Bella du Bois steadily putting points on the board.

However, with fifteen minutes to play in the first half, the Marys' pack work seemed to click into gear and they held the Bruisers to modest points gains, while securing lead jammer status on every remaining jam. The Marys took the lead for the first time with four minutes remaining on the clock, with the score standing at 70-63. Geelong jammer Ruby E Raze finished out the half with a 16-0 power jam – but she also finished the jam in the box, after being called for a tripping major which freed opposing jammer Mandytory Punishment, who was unable to score before the jam expired. The final score for the half was 83-67 in favour of the visitors.

As the second half began, the rink was noticeably quieter than before. An awestruck hush in the audience? No, just the departure of the very vocal Adeladies, who, like the more subdued VRDL All-Stars, had retired to the change rooms to prepare for the upcoming bout.