Interview with Rotorua's Motley Crew captain Kerry Pearson (Princess Die).
Roller Derby
A stirring second period comeback from Rotorua's Motley Crew saw them power to an impressive victory in the inaugural Halloween Skate Spooktacular.
The Sulphur City Steam Rollers' league side wheeled to a 182-155 win over Auckland's Broadside Brawlers in front of a packed out crowd at the Rotorua Sportsdrome on Saturday night.
Motley Crew had to come from a 91-55 deficit at the break after their Auckland opponents put in an early lethal attacking spell.
But cheered on by a noisy, halloween-clad home support, the Rotorua side turned it up a gear in the second period to move clear and secure a convincing victory.
Image 1 of 12: Mya Backhouse, 4, and John Backhouse. Photo/Ben Fraser
Motley Crew's captain Kerry Pearson (Princess Die) was "ecstatic" with the result and said a "rousing" half-time team talk was the key to her side's success.
"I am absolutely ecstatic because we thought we had lost it after the first half but we were so stoked with our halftime chat," she said.
"We were letting our communication down and we really focused on that as a team because if you are playing cohesively then you can come out on top and be really strong in defence.
"So we said lets keep our mouths working as much as our feet are and it worked."
Strong performances in defence from both teams saw an even start to the duel with Motley Crew just edging it 9-8 after five minutes.
Both Rotorua's Motley Crew and Auckland's Broadside Brawlers celebrate after a battling contest. PHOTO/ SUPLLIED.
But Broadside Brawlers surged to a 36-19 with eight minutes to go before the break, largely thanks to the impressive form of jammers Batman and Blockness Monster.
After the interval the home side battled back and excellent Motley Crew defence blocked the Broadside Brawlers' jammers out of the game.
A strong Motley Crew line of defence was key to victory on Saturday. PHOTO/ BEN FRASER.
Motley Crew capitalised with particularly impressive jamming from Hazzard Belle who helped pull it back to a 110-91 deficit.
And with momentum firmly in their wheels Rotorua jammers Panel Beat Her and Shan Grenade pushed on to unassailable lead for the home side.
"They were coming at us from all directions in the first period - especially Batman," said Princess Die.
"But everybody impressed for us because they consciously pulled it back.
"Our attackers had a hard fight. Hazzard Bell, Panel Beat Her and Shan Grenade did their job well and they did it hard."
The MVP award for jammer went to Motley Crew's Shan Grenade and the home side's Princess Die picked up the MVP for the Blocker.
