The fifth bout of the season on May 2 presented two matches that ended in near 2-1 score ratios. The evening's second match-up, which paired the Manics and The Fury, may not have been a surprise--the Manics are riding the momentum of a rejuvenated team, while The Fury continue to struggle with the smallest roster on the league and a number key veterans' retirements. The big surprise was that the score gap was wider in the leading match of the night, between the Hell's Belles and Double Crossers, whose history of close-fought, into overtime brawls made this one something of a head-scratcher for fans of the assassins in black.

A look at the points tabulation tells a condensed version of the story. While it would be easy to mark the return of the Belles' former scoring champ Varla Vendetta as the tipping factor, her impact was felt most as a pivot. Still, her 18 points as a jammer outshone the totals of any Double Crosser save the high-scoring Peg Legs (with 39). And only Peg and Blossom Bruiso managed to top Belles rookie Deb Autry's 8. The always-stellar Belles jammers Shocka Conduit and Athena DeCrime amassed 62 and 52 points, respectively. While the XXers are known for their defensive strategy, it proved no match for the Belles' offensive speed and their ability to take advantage of the engagement zone rule. Meanwhile the Belles' Megan Formor seemed to operate as a one-woman army, intimidating most of the XX jamming roster into a summarily low-scoring evening.

The Double Crossers started the evening off right with an early lead, scoring 9 in the first two jams, but the Belles put the fire out early and held the XXers to 9 for over 10 minutes while steadily creeping up the scoreboard to pull ahead by a point. The score remained close for the next 10 minutes, the battling teams trading a modest lead while, miraculously, no jammers committed the dreaded cutting major to cede a drastic advantage. Hoosier Mama, in particular, did her part to cream the Belles without prejudice, and is beginning to resemble Rat City's D-Bomb in her ability to use her caboose as a deadly weapon. Julia Rosenwinkel managed to bring the XXers within 4 points with 11 minutes remaining in the half. But the next two jams gave Athena DeCrime and Shocka Conduit opportunities to edge their tally forward another 14 points. The period ended with several highly defensive jams where the jammers barely managed to clear the pack on their initial passes before racing neck-and-neck and being forced to hit it and quit it. While the Belles' 42-26 lead was in no way insurmountable to the Double Crossers, who have managed dramatic comebacks, the defensive play in the first period made every point a struggle, and the gap was possibly more significant than it seemed.

In the second half the gloves were off, the penalties began to rack up, and the speedy Belles jamming line had plenty of opportunity to widen the margin. And widen they did, holding the Double Crossers scoreless at 35 after the first jam until a mere 13 minutes remained on the clock. A penalty that sent XX jammer Riley Coyote to the box in the second jam (and a missed seat that sent her circling a frustrating second time) allowed Athena DeCrime to put 20 points on the board. Megan Formor's subsequent brutal assaults on Riley Coyote and Julia Rosenwinkel cleared the way for Deb Autry (who is a master at staying on her skates amidst a hail of hips) and Shocka Conduit to tally 8 and 14, respectively.

Finally a cutting major sent Shocka Conduit to the penalty box giving Peg Legs an opportunity to break out of 35-point prison. 14 points (and a jammerless jam) later, the score was 104-50 Belles. The Double Crossers managed to put 10 more on the board in the final 10 minutes, but that was no match for the Belles' additional 26.

Earlier this season, the Belles appeared to be at full-strength even with the absence of injured vets Varla Vendetta and Harmadillo. With the return of those key warriors, their one loss appears to be in the rearview mirror, and they are thundering ahead in red and black to the home season's close.

Final score: Hell's Belles 140 - Double Crossers 60

In the second game of the night, The Fury matched the Manic Attackers in good humor if not in points, with bench coaches from both teams donning tutus and The Fury paying tribute to their opponents by mimicking their opening calisthenics routine while wearing special "Fury-tards" (consisting of tighty-whiteys worn over their regular uniforms).

The Manics held The Fury to single digits for much of the first half, as Eva Dead and Yvette Yourmaker were kept uncharacteristically quiet by the Manics defense. What would have been considered penalty trouble for another team (including a procedural major when the Manics had too many skaters on the track), didn't cramp their style much as Beth Amphetamine, Malice with Chains and Ying O'Fire (who is looking quite speedy these days) steadily amassed points for their colorful squad. With the score 37-10 and 13 minutes left in the half, The Fury finally started to pour it on, holding their opponents scoreless while Yvette and Eva brought their total up to 18. The Fury managed to put a few more on the board when a jam started badly, with the Manics mistakenly skating short, then got much worse when Beth Amphetamine pulled a low block and was ordered to join two of her blockers in the box. With only one Manic blocker on the track, The Fury's Sonya Mouthshut took impressive advantage of her opportunity, scoring 17 points to bring The Fury within 6 (41-35) with 3 minutes left in the period. Their optimism was short-lived, however, as Ruth Enasia leapt over Fury blockers to score one grand slam, and then scored a second as Fury jammer Mel Content desperately passed the star to Dee Monica. 9 more points from Malice in the last jam of the half  roadened the gap: 61-35 Manics.

The first jam of the second half was just a race for points with no lead jammer: Malice and Eva Dead went the full 2 minutes and scored 12 and 8 points, respectively. From then on, the period just continued the march to the inevitable, as both teams worked their way up the scoreboard, The Fury in baby booties and the Manics in clown shoes. Around seven minutes in things got interesting (or confusing, depending on who you ask) as Manics jammer Ying O'Fire went to the box for cutting, allowing Yvette Yourmaker to earn lead jammer status. Yvette was immediately called for back-blocking, however, and tragically missed the seat and had to re-circle. That was enough time to allow Ying's penalty to elapse. Sprung from the box, Ying added another 5 points to the Manics' tally, and Ruth Enasia, jamming alone in the next jam, appended another 5. Beth Amphetamine put up 15 in the very next jam before going down courtesy of a big hit from Eva Dead and forcing the jam to be called due to injury. Nothing serious, though.

Now up 104-52 and only halfway through the final period, the Manics continued the crawl to victory, scoring 33 more in the next 5 jams, to the Fury's 6. Sonya, Yvette and Eva did their best, and by the 25-minute mark they brought the Fury total up to 74; but with the Manics standing at 147, there wasn't much to be done. With less than two minutes remaining in the game, the officials took a verrry looong timeout that only added to what felt like the longest night in WCR history. When the action was allowed to commence again, the Manic Attackers rewarded the crowd for their patience by putting original WCR blocking badass Val Capone on the jam line against Yvette Yourmaker. The stadium erupted with joy as Yvette was sent off, having received her fourth minor, and Val was called lead jammer, scoring 3 points. Her personal victory was cut short, however, as she was boxed as well and a jammerless jam called with 40 seconds remaining. As the final jam limped to the finish line, both teams left the track in a hugfest, having injected a bit of fun into oft-heated competition.

Final score Manic Attackers 150 - The Fury 74

--recap by Kentucky Dervish