BLACK & ORANGE VS. ORANGE AND BLACK

The day of black & orange vs. orange and black had arrived, as we prepared to meet a team with the same color scheme and a strikingly similar logo. The mighty Lulea’s Slaughters daughters had left their Northern home to play us in our second ever home game, on a Sunny Oslo Saturday.

Led by our fearless Cap’n Die Die, the team was in the mood to try something new. We had an ambitious choreographed skate out (met with mixed feelings among the team about on-track dancing) and new tactic acronyms (BIEBER! TEATIME!).

We warmed up in the sun, with burpees and shouting in the carpark, to frighten and amuse the local children. Inside was a hive of well-coordinated preparation as the small army of NSOs and Refs and ORD volunteers made the last preparations. Batman was on hand to see fans to their seats, which were soon full, with the front row dominated by the pompom-waving ORD supporters, the Suicide Chapter.

High on ABBA, Oslo brought out some controlled and focused play in the first half, pulling out an early lead. Lulea battled hard, and highlights from the first half included a delightful 180 evasive apex jump by Torture Run, and some big hits from Lulea’s Petra Pack. The second half got sweaty and a teeny bit chaotic, as Lulea battled to pick up points and both teams accumulated penalties. On track under-powered packs tried to keep back the jammers and cope with a series of power-jams. Off track, announcers Ragna Råkk and Keyser Söze worked hard to keep the crowd clear on why players were flying in and out of the penalty box, and the NSOs and Refs worked their socks off.

And all of a sudden, it was over. Oslo accumulated a big score and lead, but Lulea were worthy opponents, playing hard and consistently, never showing any sign of giving in.

our second big win at home felt great, and more importantly, completing a second successful homegame made it clear we’re becoming a fully mature derby club. A host of ORD’s skaters, supporters and friends delivered another smoothly-run and slick event.  They are all brilliant and we can’t thank them enough.

See you all at the next home game!

The mighty club effort behind the homegame:

Photo credits to the up-and-coming ORD skater and derby-photo talent Sarah:

You can see more of Sarah’s photos of the game here

-Britta Broad