Start as you mean to go on

Fox & Hounds Originals  0 - 5  Rutland Panthers

Panthers were at the Fox & Hounds in Knossington early to familiarise themselves with the piste but were trailing early in both triples. Nigel's plan to distract the the opponents with a dayglo orange top and a highly dubious black sleeveless leopard-print hoody* was not working

Full House

Then Mark, Tony and Daniel pounced on a loose end by the opposition which finished with a Pocket Rocket carreau for 6 - and it is was all downhill from there

Marathon

But it was a different story in the other triple which turned into a relentless two hour contest. The tenacious young Originals were out for an upset. In the penultimate end Nigel pointed to save game and in the last end John cashed in with a carreau for a 13-12 steal

Home run

Tim got his pointing head on for the doubles and, partnering Nigel, wrapped up the match with a 13-1. Minutes later John and Mark brought home their game and the sensei-deshi combo of Tony and Daniel completed the clean sweep. Mark gets a menshie for some powerful backup firing

Missing link

The only downer on the night was news filtering through that our associate team, Rose & Crown, had lost a player en route to Greetham and their match to the Vikings Traders by the narrow margin of 2-3

*by Damaged Goods (appropriately enough) out of TKMaxx. (Sponsorship pending)

Off and Running

Greene King Cup

Our 2016 season proper kicks off tomorrow, Tuesday 05 April, with first round ties in the Rutland & District League's Greene King Cup. Panthers visit the Fox & Hounds Originals at Knossington in an all Premier Division clash whilst the Rose & Crown travel to the Greetham Community Centre to take on fellow Division 1 team Vikings Traders

Friendly

On Thursday Panthers are guests at the Rose & Crown for a friendly match

Whitnash Open

And this coming Sunday the 10th three Panthers triples head south to Leamington Spa for the traditional early season Whitnash Open

Fixtures

The calendar page now has our fixtures for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings. The Thursday Pétanque pairs League is starting a couple of weeks earlier than usual this year

Daniel on the Rampage again

From our Sports Desk, DD reports: The prodigal son has returned .... festooned with trophies, medals, toys, sweets and fizzy pop. Under 13 Junior winner, shooting competition winner and overall winner with Joe S. It would seem a reasonable day has occurred! BUUTTTTTT........no more chickens!

And from our Reporter on location: Breaking news .... some East Midlands adults and juniors took a trip to bandit country (Chiltern ) to play in the Adult-Junior competition run by Toni G - and a great job she made of it. Playing in the over 13 group, Ben and Lisa had a fun day coming 3rd. Ex East Midlands player Kai his dad, Steve, came 2nd and won the Over 13 shooting. In the Under 13 group Daniel and Joe won the 4 games to make the play-off final ... which they won 13-8. In the shooting Dan and Joe moved the seven boules required (with just six shots allowed.) And, to top it off, they were overall top team

Another High!

In the most exciting development so far for Rutland Panthers, Daniel is announced as a member of the squad of four to represent England in the WORLD Junior Triples Championships in Thailand this coming November. And, of these four, Daniel has been chosen to compete in the parallel Tir de Précision - the Shooting Championship

At twelve and a half, Daniel is breaking numerous 'Youngest Ever' records as he heads out this weekend to an International competition in Luxembourg

A Week to Remember

Monday 8 June - Panthers hosted the Old Horse Roadies in a Leicestershire Presidents Cup tie worthy of a final. After see-saw battles in the triples and the first two doubles games, the match was almost inevitably poised at 2-2. Dan and Tony then edged a roller-coaster decider against Drew and 'Loll' with shooting of a remarkable standard from both teams. Keen competition and a high standard of pétanque blended with witty banter and camaraderie in the very best kind of sportsmanship on a memorable night

Tuesday 9 June - Asfordby Amateurs were the away team in a Greene King Cup tie which was potentially a tight affair. The visitors, riding high in Division 1, and having disposed of Premier Division Old Black Horse B at Houghton in the previous round, must have fancied their chances. But, still buzzing from the previous evening's exploits, Panthers executed a savage demolition of their opponents. They racked up an unprecedented four consecutive 13-0 'fannies' with John and Nigel needing only four ends in each of their triples and doubles games. The for-once-absent Timbo's reports from Edgbaston of England's remarkable ODI cricket exploits against New Zealand neatly complemented the sense of occasion

Wednesday 10 June - After much poring over maps, interrogation of navigation systems and no little debate, Panthers trekked all the way over to the border with Derbyshire to pick up another convincing Division 3 league victory, this time against The Holly Bush (once Bulls Head Wilson)

Thursday 11 June - The Panthers entertained their nearest rivals in the Thursday Petanque League, Mansfield Titchfield Bandits, eventually overcoming stubborn resistance to notch their fifth 4-0 in the opening six match-days in Division 2

Sunday 14 June - The icing, the cherry and the candles all arrived at once in the East Midlands Regional Doubles. In a manner that has come to be known as 'doing a Germany' Dan and Simon squeezed into the semi finals on 'goal difference' from a clutch of teams on three wins. Up against the experience of ten times Regional title winner Stone and the dogged pointing of Rob from the Air Hostess, they stared defeat in the face at 8-12 down but upped their game another gear. Saving countless 'match points' Dan and Simon clinched the deal, with the Pocket Rocket twice notching three consecutive hits under the ultimate pressure. Sporting lore dictates that anti-climax follows a hard fought victory - but this time the script went out of the window. Joe and Lisa had marched inexorably into the final as favourites with a 'perfect six' wins but their opponents didn't allow them to really get started. Saving their best til last, Dan and Simon wrapped up the title with blistering tactics and calm efficiency. Aged twelve and a half, Daniel is the youngest ever Regional title winner and will represent the East Midlands with Simon, Joe and Lisa in the national Champion of Champions Doubles on October 10

Little BIG BANG!

Panthers' 2015 season has started explosively: following his success in the EPA Junior Development day in February, Daniel won the Lincoln Doubles on Easter Day AND the Yorkshire Open Triples at Doncaster on the very next day. Having successfully partnered Simon Q on the Sunday and a pair of Blytons on Monday, the Pocket Rocket is looking to the rest of us to catch up
According to a well placed source, Daniel's personal adviser and prize money manager at Coutts Bank is negotiating the purchase of properties adjacent to Daniel's home for the development of an International Pétanque venue

Time to Shine

Wakey, wakey Panthers! It's all happening guys! We have:

- Friendlies arranged with Club de Nomades (Heart of England Region) on Saturdays 4th and 18th April
- a Friendly at the Rose & Crown, Houghton to mark the opening of their new piste (date tba)
- the Rutland League starting early on the 7th April with a Cup fixture
- the Leicestershire League starting on the 29th of April

Hot off the press is news of our latest project - an assault on the Thursday Petanque League. The newly formed Loughborough Panthers team will be playing Pairs matches out of the Plough at Loughborough from the 30th of April with Dave as Captain and one or two other new members joining that squad

Panthers 2 have launched their bid to be Top East Midlands Team at the EPA Inter Regional Championships for the third year in succession - Mark joins Nigel and Simon ('In Like Quinn') in one of the first Regional Qualifier teams to declare. They will have a 'run-out' in the Open Triples on Sunday 12th April at the Plough, Ratby

Negotiations are at an advanced stage for Oakham RFC to host EPA, EMPA and LPA events, including a number of County Match fixtures

A state-of-the-art (and probably over-the-top) Fixture Calendar will be launched shortly on its own page on this site together with an upgraded Map page to reflect our burgeoning empire

The 2015 Results page is ready to record all our imminent conquests - note that there will not be sufficient space for Runners Up 'mentions'. The Treasurer is sourcing a larger Trophy Cabinet as we speak

Advance news: Ian and Nigel will be defending their Leicestershire Open Pairs Cup title on the 19th of April (venue tbd)