On Saturday 1st December (ie now) the mighty Brighton Rockers will descend on Haywards Heath for a unique event. The day’s second game sees the B-team Rockerbillies face the Bath Roman Rollers, but the first game sees the launch of the Rockers’ brand new third team, C-Side. These Brighton skaters will be making their debuts against a mixed team of rookie skaters from all over the country. Eek!
The action will be taking place at Brighton’s home venue, the Dolphin leisure centre. This is just seven minutes walk from Haywards Heath train station (turn left and follow the signs) or point your SatNav towards RH16 1LY. There’s parking at the venue, which also has a cafe bar and vending machines. The nearest ATMs are outside the big Sainsbury’s halfway between the venue and station.
Doors open at 2pm, with the C-team game at 2.30 followed by the B-team contest at 4.40. If you haven’t already snapped up your ticket online in advance, you can pay on the door. It’s £9.50 for adults, with discounts for students and Compass Card holders. Under 12s get in for free. Don’t forget to pick up your free copy of our Turn Left magazine on the door. This issue also contains our Player of the Year voting form.
There will be various activities, competitions and stalls in the hall. Should spectators want a pre or post-event pint, the pub directly opposite Haywards Heath station (the Burrell Arms) is the nearest option and is fairly decent. After this random photo of our ballot box are some folks’ thoughts about the two games…
2.30PM BRIGHTON ROCKERS C-SIDE vs THE PAINDEERS
“Since C-Side are a brand new team and their opponents are a mixed league side, neither has an official ranking, so there’s no real way of predicting the outcome of this one. Which just makes it all extra exciting!”
MISTER ADAM, BRATS
“Keep an eye on Adios AimeeGo. She’s really improved in the past couple of months and I think will be an important part of the team. Also Deathblade, who is an incredibly good jammer and should hopefully rack up a load of points today.”
SLAP DASH, BRIGHTON ROCKERS
“There’s such a range of different skills in C-Side. I think they’ll all impress you in one way or another. Their opponents are people from various other roller derby leagues who have each played between zero and three games, so it will be interesting to see who’s on that team too.”
FELLEN E ASSAULT, BRIGHTON ROCKERS
4.40PM BRIGHTON ROCKERBILLIES vs BATH ROMAN ROLLERS
“Jump to the next quote if you don’t like reading predictions ahead of a game. The Rockerbillies currently place 275th in Europe with 462.3 ranking points, whilst the Roman Rollers are 366th with 437.7. Brighton are given 73% chance of victory here, with an expected differential of 40:29. This suggests something like a 240-174 home win, but B-team predictions aren’t always that accurate, so expect the unexpected!”
MISTER ADAM, BRATS
“It’s going to be a really interesting game. Although Brighton are higher ranked, Bath have just come off playing in the South West Series tournament where they faced some very high level B-teams, so they will have learnt a lot from that. I’m hoping we’ll see some good tactical play from the Rockerbillies. I think it will be quite a close game.”
SLAP DASH, BRIGHTON ROCKERS
“I don’t think we’ve ever seen the Rockerbillies play in person before, so this is going to be a new and exciting experience for us. Most of all we’re hoping for a fun and friendly game full of Christmas cheer.”
LADY MACTUFF, BATH ROLLER DERBY
LINKS
FB EVENT PAGE: https://www.facebook.com/events/239729666703400/
BRIGHTON ROCKERS: https://www.brightonrockers.com/
BATH ROLLER DERBY: http://www.bathrollerderbygirls.co.uk/
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