TGSS Third Place Bout: Northern Brisbane 217, Adelaide 119
Host league Adelaide Roller Derby came out hard in the second game of the day, hoping to defend their title from 2010 against Northern Brisbane Rollers. The team had a slow start to their tournament weekend but seemed to have shaken it off by the time the match rolled around, establishing nearly a 50-point lead at halftime on the back of a few power jams. That lead was erased in just six minutes in the second half and Northern Brisbane went on to win the bout, 217-119.
In the first couple of jams of the second half, Northern Brisbane were able to add a few points to their own score while holding Adelaide to just one, leaving the score at 102-65 in Adelaide’s favour when a four-minute official time-out stopped the clock at 28:04.
When play resumed, Lecter scooted to a quick lead jammer with Adelaide’s Philistine seated in the penalty box. Adding a quick 15 points, she called off the jam with 27 minutes remaining to play and maintaining Brisbane’s pack advantage and power jam status for the next jam.
Trauma Junkie came out for NBR and facing a stopped pack, was on her second scoring pass before the Philistine was released. Phil struggled to make her initial pass and ultimately cut her way back to penalty box, letting Trauma bring her team within two points of the Adeladies, at 102-100 in Adelaide’s favour with 24:21 on the clock.
Adelaide called a team time-out at this point to regroup and started the next jam at a 4-3 pack disadvantage. Northern Brisbane started on a knee with Lil Gee Unit up to jam. The Adelaide defence held her for nearly a minute, but Gee Unit had added 5 points to give Northern Brisbane the lead before Philistine completed her initial pass, leaving the score at Northern Brisbane 109, Adelaide 102 with 23 minutes to play. Northern Brisbane’s Brandee Snapz looked to continue the girls in teal’s momentum against the Fury of Fenrir, picking up lead jammer status and five points before Fenrir broke the pack.
Another power jam for Northern Brisbane left Lil Gee Unit racking up points as Kit Cat Krunch sat in the penalty box for a major track cut. Lil Gee Unit made her way to the penalty box within seconds of Kit Cat’s release, but with a 4-2 pack advantage, they were able to contain Kit Cat until the jam expired. Northern Brisbane held a 131-102 lead with 19 minutes on the clock when an official time-out was called.
Adelaide had the only jammer on the track when the next jam commenced, but they had two blockers seated and one standing in the box. Blue Wrenegade battled a Northern Brisbane three wall before breaking the pack just as Lil Gee Unit stood in the penalty box. The Brisbane jammer made a quick initial pass as Wren struggled at the front of the pack and called off the jam as Gee Unit started to score, leaving the score at 133-105 in Brisbane’s favour.
Brandee Snapz picked up a quick lead jammer call and a half-lap lead on Kit Cat Crunch but the situation was reversed when Blue Wrenegade picked up a quick lead jammer call for Adelaide. Both teams dedicated just one or two blockers to defensive play, with most of the other skaters devoted to bridging in a strung-out pack. An official time out stopped the clock with just under 14 minutes to play and the score standing at Northern Brisbane 139, Adelaide 110.
Jamming unopposed, Kit Cat Krunch headed to the penalty box quickly after a major illegal procedure for false starting -- but was released immediately, with Lil Gee Unit serving a two-minute penalty. The reprieve didn’t last long: Kit Cat returned to play and immediately committed a major back block, releasing Gee to extend Northern Brisbane’s lead to 148-112.
Kit Cat started the next jam in the box but wasn’t there long. With both jammers in the pack, solid defensive work from Brisbane’s Fe Fe Ferocious nabbed Brandee Snapz lead jammer status, stretching their lead to 40 points.
With five and a half minutes left, Northern Brisbane jammer Annabelle Lecter employed an unpopular penalty management strategy. Landing in the box a few seconds after the Adelaide jammer, instead of sitting, she stood in front of the box as the jam clock expired, to groans from the crowd.
She returned from the box in the next jam and added multiple grand slams to her team’s score as Adelaide’s Fury of Fenrir landed in the penalty box. The jam expired with Fenrir adding a couple of points to her team’s total, but Northern Brisbane’s lead continued to stretch. An official time out stopped the clock at 2:49, with Northern Brisbane holding a 179-115 lead.
When play resumed, Lil Gee Unit picked up lead jammer over Adelaide’s Tricksy Belt’em, who headed to the penalty box on a fourth minor. With a 4-2 pack advantage - which became 3-1 when both teams lost a player to the penalty box - Northern Brisbane capitalised to bring their lead to 212-115 with just over 30 seconds on the clock.
The final jam of the half saw Northern Brisbane out to secure a 100-point victory but Brandee Snapz landed in the penalty box shortly after Bone Shaker returned to play. A shrinking Northern Brisbane pack couldn’t stop Adelaide closing the gap -- and when Snapz returned to play and then immediately cut her way back to the box as the final whistle blew, the score stood at 217-119, with Northern Brisbane taking out third place at the 2012 Great Southern Slam.
