Kent Roller Girls took a trip to Berkshire this weekend to take on Windsor Royal Roller’s B team in a very closely matched game.
Windsor B sit only one place ahead of Kent in the roller derby European rankings, but the teams had never played each other before. The game provided Kent with a great opportunity to try out some new line-ups ready for their next game in the UK Championships against Bath on 24 April.
The visitors got off to a good start with Kent’s jammer, Tenacious, taking 4 points in the opening jam. Only 10 minutes in and a lead change as Windsor snuck ahead to 28-24.
Kent took back the lead after some great team work between their fast-footed jammers and solid blockers. The tit for tat continued throughout the first half, finishing with Kent in the lead; 83-65.
In roller derby, jammers (the scoring players) can often score 20 points in one 2 minute jam, so everything was very much still to play for as the teams went into the halftime break.
The second half saw much of the same, with rarely 20 points between the teams at any time. Windsor took the lead 10 minutes in to the 30 minute half, breaking their century at 101-92.
As both jammers fought hard to get through solid walls of blockers, who largely play defensive roles to stop the jammer getting through, Kent’s blockers also withstood some solid offence from Windsor’s players.
Despite some great strategic play in the second half, and after a final nailbiting jam in which Kent’s jammer got sent to the penalty box, Windsor took the win by only 11 points, finishing 141-130.
Windsor awarded their Most Valuable Player to one of Kent’s most experienced players; Whizz Skid, from Herne Bay. The best jammer award went to Bionic Bessi, who only recently joined KRG after moving to Medway from her previous team in Adelaide, Australia. Hannibal Lecturer, who lives in Tonbridge, was awarded Best Blocker in only her second game on the team.
Kent Roller Girls have some exciting events coming up. Their open day, in Herne Bay, on 10 April is a great chance to find out more about the game and get some skates on to give it a go.
Kent are also warming up for their big home game, against Surrey, on 21 May at the Bay Sports Arena. Details and tickets are available online – search for Kent Roller Girls on Facebook.
About Roller Derby:
Roller derby is a fast-paced contact sport played on roller skates. The object of the game is to score more points than the other team by lapping opposing skaters on the track. The game is played in two 30 minutes halves, comprising of 2 minute ‘jams’. Each team has one scoring player (a jammer) who is trying to pass opposing players. The rest of the team are blockers, whose job it is to stop the opposing jammer getting past whilst helping their own jammer to advance.
Pictures supplied by Janette Boyd-Marshall.