The Armitage Sports Centre in Fallowfield, Manchester was the setting for the first home bout of the Rainy City Roller Girls. They were to take on the Leeds Roller Dolls in a hard fought battle and aptly named “War of the Roses”. The crowd swelled to over 300 people with equal support from both sides. But the virgin Manchester crowd were quickly converted and kept on the edge of their seats by the scoreline, which for the most part was neck and neck.

Things kicked off in favour of the Rainys, but they quickly felt the pressure with 19 major penalties in the first half! Leeds weren’t far behind with 14 majors – there was a lot of passion and pride riding on this battle! Half time finished with Rainy City on 78 and Leeds on 57. But victory was no way in the bag… the gloves were off!

Both teams were on form – teamwork and tactics keeping things tight but in the end the Rainys’ discipline let them down. Leeds managed to keep their heads when passions ran high. The final score was Rainy City 127, Leeds 138. Notable performances from LRD came from Rushin’ Doll with her magical zipping through the pack, Bruise ‘Em Banshee and Riggor Morris. From RCRG the MVP award went to Belle-Istic, as dependable as ever with Missy Rascal as star jammer and Dee Mise keeping the opposition jammers at bay.

All-in-all, it was a good day for roller derby in the North of England and hopefully the first of many meetings between the two teams. Derby Love to Ex Con Vic who was injured during the game – hopefully she’ll recover in time for the re-match!

Thank you to Adam@amodelofcontrol.com for the use of the image