Monday 13 June 2016

Dauntless coming to Midway

Approaching the halfway point in the season, there's a lot to write home about:

Rocking Good Way

On a sunny Sunday afternoon Pip G lifted the Rockingham Mêlée trophy, pointing and shooting his way imperiously to a maximum five wins.
Meanwhile Tony, Daniel and Nigel progressed the search for more talent in a busy day at Oakham's Rutland Show

Cup Capers

June 6th and 7th were Cup nights. On the Monday in Leicestershire, Panthers
assuaged three whole years of hurt by edging out the Blaby Tigers, and Plough Inn 2
made it painful for Beacon 1. But Thurmaston 3 and Glenhills 1 disappointed with
2-3 home losses to Malt Shovel Old Boys and Queniborough Spartans respectively.
The next evening in Rutland saw thumping 5-0 knockout wins for Panthers (at home
to Greetham Vikings Traders) and for Rose & Crown, Houghton (away at White Lion)

League Duty

Panthers continue to make light work of it in Leicestershire's Division 2. It was more
suffering on Wednesday for Beacon 1 who went down 1-3. For Glenhills 1 the fairy
tale goes on ... a 4-0 derby drubbing of Glenhills 2 puts them top of Division 1 by one
point. But it was 'same old' for Plough Inn 2 who at least managed a leg at home to the
Baggies. And the slide continues for Thurmaston 3 who are now perched precariously
above the drop zone following a second 4-0 defeat in three, this time to Belper Arms 2
in what was virtually a complete reversal of last year's result between the two teams

It's still early days in the Thursday Pétanque League but Panthers are an astonishing four
points clear after clattering Red Lion Too. The highlight of the night, if not the week,
occurred when Sophie and Jon (2-4 down at the time) smoked a 5 and a 6 in
consecutive ends to see off a shell-shocked Hugh and Magster

Footnote: On 04 June 1942 USAF 'Dauntless' bombers diving out of a cloudy sky caught the Imperial Fleet off guard by means of intercepting enemy communications and a separate sacrificial decoy low level torpedo bomber attack. In an episode almost as brief and arguably more significant in world history than Muhammad Ali's Rumble in the Jungle, three US carriers launched against their four Japanese counterparts, destroying them all for the loss of one of their own ... "He's one of our own, He's Pip Strawb'ry Gilman, He's one of our own!"

Saturday 4 June 2016

Tough at the Top

Panthers negotiated a crucial week of fixtures with home draws against Thurmaston 3 in the Leicestershire League (18 May) and Mansfield Titchfield Snappers in the Thursday Pairs (19 May) ... and a 4-0 trouncing of the Fox & Hounds Originals at 'The Boot' (24 May)

Marching on with a comfortable Wednesday night 3-1 win at home to Belper Arms 1 (25 May) and a summary dismissal of Nottingham City Rat Pack in the Thursday Petanque Cup (26 May), Panthers came a cropper at the Dog & Gun (Tuesday 31 May) with a disappointing 1-3 defeat

This Wednesday's crunch game at Queniborough Spartans was postponed to 22 June and
yesterday's (02 June) visit to NCPC 1 resulted in a 3-1 win for the Loughborough Panthers

In all three league tables Panthers are top - by a reduced margin of three points in the Rutland Premier Division, by a single point but with a match in hand in the Leicestershire League's
Division 2, and by two points in the Thursday League Division 1 from Air Hostess 5 - who
have emerged as our main rivals and the only other unbeaten team after Round 6

In other news ...
Rose & Crown, Houghton's promotion bid in Rutland's Division 1 has suffered a setback
with two heavy defeats and only five points from their last four outings - but with
11 matches to go the four point gap to the top is far from insurmountable

It's not been a good time either for Thurmaston 3 in Leicestershire's Division 2
where a 0-4 capitulation at home to the Spartans on match day five
saw them slide to 7th place, albeit with a match in hand

Meanwhile the LPA top flight has become very competitive with only Plough Inn 2 adrift
on five points from their first six games. Glenhills 1 remain among the front runners
in spite of losing at home with a weakened team on match day five

Next up a busy week with Cup fixtures on Monday and Tuesday
and the usual League programme on Wednesday and Thursday