TGSS Day Two Recaps

By Beck Wise, Last updated Thu Jun 14 2012 11:31pm

Victors Semi 1: Victoria vs Adelaide

Victoria laid a beatdown on the hometown team in this game, holding more than a hundred point lead over a scoreless Adelaide team ten minutes into the match. They'd extended their lead to 171-27 by halftime and finished the game with a score of Victoria 357, Adelaide 75.

Watch this space -- more detailed recap coming tonight!

Victors Semi 2: Northern Brisbane vs Sun State

Tournament buzz had this pegged as a bout to watch, given the two teams’ histories, and it did not disappoint. While Sun State held a narrow lead in the first half -- just 12 points halfway through the period -- they pulled away to hold a 45 point lead with about five minutes remaining to play.

At that point, Northern Brisbane discovered the jammer line, sending their blockers to line up directly in front of the jammers on multiple consecutive jams. The strategy paid off for them, gaining lead jammer status on three consecutive jams and racking up some much needed points as the half expired.

In the last jam of the half, Northern Brisbane grabbed the back line but both teams dragged their feet off the whistle; more than a minute passed before the jammers were released. Trauma Junkie grabbed lead jammer status with a crowd-pleasing apex jump and added three points to her team’s score, leaving the half-time score at 74 Sun State, 43 Northern Brisbane.

Sun State nabbed the back line in the first jam of the half but Northern Brisbane’s jammer, Lil G Unit, scooted through for lead jammer status and a quick 5-0. The girls in teal followed it up with a power jam -- Sun State’s Polly Cracker committed a cut track major as Brandee Snapz battled a stationary pack and a black and yellow four-wall for a big 16 points, leaving the score at Sun State 74, Northern Brisbane 60.

Sun State got a chance to come back in the very next jam, when Annabelle Lecter, jamming against her old team, landed in the penalty box. Skating unopposed, Rose Ruin added 25 points to her team’s total before Lecter was released. Lecter made her initial pass seemingly unnoticed and Rose went to jammer defence to run down the clock, maintaining Sun State’s 99-60 lead.

Rose’s twin Cookie Cutter took the Sun State star next against Northern Brisbane’s Trauma Junkie, who struggled with the tough Sun State defence. She made her initial pass just as Cookie picked up a grand slam; she was forced to call off the jam as Trauma scooted past her on the inside and approached the pack to score.

Sun State’s Polly Crackers took the star against Brandee Snapz and ran through the pack for a quick lead jammer call. With Brandee a half lap back, Polly got caught up in Oh Hell No’s defence and only barely managed to call off the jam as Brandee approached. Over the next 10 minutes, Sun State extended their lead, holding the score at 129-72 in their favour with 17 minutes remaining to play.

Northern Brisbane had a chance to come back when Cookie cut her way to the box halfway through the period. With her teammates stationary on the track, she added 10 points before the jam expired. Cookie was serving a two-minute penalty, so Northern Brisbane sent Tiger Tantrum to the line and held their blockers stationary.

The entire jam took place with Northern Brisbane blockers behind the pivot line -- in fact, for part of the jam, they had backed up to behind the jam line. Tiger picked up a major IP with about 45 seconds remaining in the jam, releasing Cookie to rack up 9 points for her team. She successfully pushed two Northern Brisbane blockers past the pivot line, but the other two held position -- none of the action went past corner one. When the fourth whistle blew, Sun State led 139-97.

Polly Crackers picked up five points before Tiger returned to the box and then went to jammer defence, opting to hold Northern Brisbane scoreless rather than extend Sun State’s lead. The two traded position several times as the jam clock ticked down, leaving the score at 143-97 with ten minutes left to play. Trauma Junkie scored four points in the next game to edge both teams past the century mark, prompting a Sun State time out.

Northern Brisbane handed another Sun State transfer, Christy Demons, the jam star in the next jam against former teammate Cookie Cutter. Cutter grabbed lead jammer status but only had a 20 foot lead on Demons. A racing pack forced a 0-0 jam with seven and a half minutes left on the clock.

Rola Cherry Cola and Stepford Knife played heavy defence on Trauma Junkie in the next jam as Polly Crackers ran for points, before opting for some jammer defence of her own. Trauma Junkie got past Polly but couldn’t translate that into points, leaving the score at 146-101 in Sun State’s favour with just over five minutes left to play.

Clearly sticking with the successful defensive strategy they’d already used on Sydney, Rose Ruin again opted for jammer defence against Northern Brisbane’s Beth Adder -- both teams added points here, with the score at 109-159 with three minutes remaining.

Cookie Cutter also played defence on Poppy La Pain after securing lead jammer status; the jam was called 0-0 with one minute left to play. Trauma Junkie attacked the mosh start to score lead jammer status over Polly Crackers but only had about a 20 foot lead. Signalling to her team to keep racing the pack, she commenced her scoring pass but grabbed just one point before calling it off and allowing her team to call their second time-out with just 7 seconds left on the clock.

With fifty points to make up, Northern Brisbane sent out Lil Gee Unit against Rose Ruin and started the jam on their knees at the jam line. Long Lash Massacre fought to stop Rose from escaping the pack but couldn’t quite manage it -- Rose gained lead jammer status and called off the jam, leaving the final score 159 Sun State, 110 Northern Brisbane.

Semi-finals wrap-up

Following the quarter finals, Sun State and Victoria will face off again in the grand final -- a rematch of the 2010 grand final. This match-up takes place at 4pm tomorrow on the feature track. Northern Brisbane and Adelaide will compete for third and fourth place at noon, and Sydney and Canberra will play for fifth and sixth at 10am. The seventh/eighth play-off is at 6pm today on the feature track, with Brisbane City playing Auckland's Pirate City.