Dominion Derby Girls Semi Final bout 8/26/07
Recap by Hailey Hawkeye in collaboration with Media Blitz

The Femme Fatales and Saint Brawli Girls squared off on a sultry August night in the Commonwealth. All the chips were in. The winner of this bout would face off against the Dirty Diesel Darlins in the Championships.

The last time these two teams faced off was Mother’s Day, when the Femmes scored 157 points to the Brawlis’ 129, showing the newcomers they still had lots to learn.

The lineups for the Semi Final bout include some new faces on the Brawli bench; bRat outta Hell (717), System of a Takedown (1915) – often better known as STD, and Tormented Seoul (38th Parallel.) In addition to the newest class of Rotten Meat, we also saw some familiar faces - Mother Jugs (34DD,) skating as Jugs Lite for the Brawlis and The Ruffian (1979,) offering a reprise of Shannanigans for the Femmes. Notably Femmes jammer Dipsomaniac (pi) was missing, out on a sports injury. In the May bout Dipso proved herself as the Femmes’ go-to jammer, skating in 14 Jams and racking up a staggering 76 points. Brawlis were also missing the bruised face of Old Skool Beatdown, also out for medical reasons.

Whistles blew and the bout kicked off with new found aggression. Early in period one T.Rex Ya Face (65 mil BC) showed her ability as a power jammer with a 15 point jam including 3 grand slams. At this point Femmes Captain Pretty Sk8 Machine (Sk8) and co-Captain Frankendoll (2) instructed their blockers to step up their blocking. In the next jam only a single point was scored. Next in line was bRat to jam in her first ever bout. The Brawli blockers did a phenomenal job clearing the way, allowing bRat to score 10 points for her team and a 2 time grand slam. Veterans T.Rex and Tsunami Tsue (00) spent more time in the pack than usual, clearly changing the team’s dynamic. The Femmes sent in Shannanigans and Holly GoBiteMe (13) to level the playing field a bit. Shannanigans cut through the Brawli blockers like butter, to score 5 points including a grand glam. At the end of the first period the score was Femmes 21, Brawlis 86.

Halftime provided the opportunity for the teams to cool their heels and regroup. Entertainment provided by Richmond Lucha kept the crowd interested and (gasp) the Beer Garden ran out of BEER!
The second period began with Brawli jammer T.Rex and the Femmes’ Cutthroat KC. The pack made sure neither scored a point. It was clear each team had become more determined – fanning the flames of adrenaline. But along with that adrenaline came a period bogged down by penalties. For one team the number of no-no’s more than doubled from the last period! Shortly after that – a nasty fall brought Cutthroat KC’s skating time to a grinding halt. STD took to the Jam line against formidable power blocker Bam Bam Mcchacha (37) and kept her at bay with a 7 point jam and a single grand slam. At last Shannanigans was able to show how a true Darlin jams; she racked up 2 grand slams and 10 points for the Femme Fatales. This rekindled the spark for the Femmes with Holly scoring 4 points, followed closely by Dyana Dryveby (.380) matching Holly’s score with an additional 4 points. Brawli Jammers T. Rex and Tsue took this as a personal challenge answering with 12 points and 2 grand slams between them. After a grueling second period the Brawlis showed they had what it takes to advance to their first ever semi-final bout. Final score: 161-71. The Femme Fatales put up a tenacious fight but in the end, the Brawli offense was just too overpowering.