If the first West Kootenay Women’s Roller Derby League match of the year is anything to go by, it’s going to be a close season.
Nelson teams the Lumber Jackies and the Killjoys played a tight debut bout Saturday night in Rossland, with the two teams rarely more than 10 points apart.
The Jackies took an early lead and were helped along by a series of Killjoys penalties that sent most of the team — including the point-scoring jammer — to the box.
But when another round of penalties sent the Jackies’ jammer to the box halfway through the second half, the Killjoys moved ahead, leading 112-105.
But at the end of a 15-minute struggle, it was the Jackies who pushed ahead, re-securing and maintaining their lead. They won 131 to 125.
Nelson players on Salmo’s Babes of Brutality derby team had a tougher slog in their Saturday bout. They lost 135 to 111 to Rossland’s Gnarlies Angels.
The league’s next bout goes May 6 in Castlegar and sees the Killjoys take on the Angels and the Dam City Rollers debut against the Babes.