"We've been building in this season, we've been playing really well and learning so much, and we did feel we were equal with them. But, the initial pace of the game, they started pretty hard and fast and they got a big jump on us which we just couldn't claw back," Calder said.
#anditsover #hellowheels #derbysuccess
Northland Nightmares Roller Derby 170
Sulphur City Steam Rollers 139
Posted by Sulphur City Steam Rollers on Saturday, 28 October 2017
She was pleased with the way her side fought back, despite falling short.
"With the ability to have some timeouts in that game - each time we took a timeout we reflected and had some good ideas - once we implemented them we did pull it together. It kind of felt like, if the game was 15 minutes longer, we might've got there.
"Some of our teamwork is coming together, our defensive walls were really good, we did keep up our communication and our ability to work out where they were hammering us and how to fix it - we did do a good job of that.
"I think where we were let down was scoring points at the end of the day. We were really locked down on our defence and not using offence as we should've. Our poor jammers (the scoring player) we weren't helping them get through," she said.
The Northland jammers were the stars of the show, slicing through gaps in the pack like a breeze through an open door to collect an impressive tally of points.
The event had a Halloween theme which many of the spectators embraced as the stands filled with zombies, demons, witches and ghouls. Calder said she was pleased with the turnout.
"It was really good. It's the second time we've held Hell-O-Wheels and it competes with a lot of other events, but we were really, really pleased with the crowd we did have and the way everyone dressed up and got into it. Yeah, it was a roller derby game, but it was a really cool, fun family event too."
Sulphur City's next event is the finals of the New Zealand Top 10 Roller Derby Championships in Tauranga on November 25 and 26.
