Rochdale Pétanque – One Boule at a Time – One End at a Time – One Game at a Time!
On Saturday 18th April, the Rochdale Petanque Euro Squad – Rochdale Milton – travelled to Nottingham City Petanque for the 3rd round of Petanque England’s Euro Cup Challenge. The day was filled with sunshine, great competition, and a very warm welcome from our hosts.
From the outset, we knew it was going to be an exciting day. The games began with the triples, and after two closely fought matches it was one win apiece, both finishing on identical scores of 13–8.
In the doubles, Dave & Linda got off to a flying start against Nottingham’s Jill & Neil, scoring 5 points on the second end followed by another 4 points on the next. Jill & Neil fought back superbly, narrowing the gap, but Dave & Linda held firm to take the game 13–11 — a fantastic game to watch!
Meanwhile, Mike & Gary faced Nottingham’s Paul & Oliver in a tough match that went on for what felt like forever. Every boule was closely contested, but some excellent shooting from Nottingham gave them the edge, sealing a 13–7 victory.
With the overall score level at 2–2, it all came down to the final doubles match. Ian & François faced Kevin & Peter in a nail-biting decider. Rochdale took an early lead, and although Nottingham battled hard to close the gap, Ian & François eventually scored the winning boule — clinching the match and sending Rochdale Milton through to the PE Euro Cup semi-finals!
Well done, Rochdale!
A big thank you to the members of Nottingham Petanque for their warm hospitality and the refreshments provided. We look forward to meeting again soon for a friendly rematch!
The Semi Finals will be held on Sunday 28th June at a venue to be decided
Rochdale Milnrow take on Mansfield next Sunday 26th April in the 2nd round of the Euro Plate – Good Luck!
