BOOM - The Panthers U14 introduce themselves to the U15 London League

With the Kent festivals occupying over half of the squad, including all the U15's, the remaining 17 U14 Panthers took the journey to Richmond to take on 13 U15 teams in the season opening 9's festival.

Entry to the U15 league was the prime aim of the day, as it means that the U14/15 squad will have 2 fixtures a week from the end of March onwards, guaranteeing HUGE game time for all.

With the only expectations of the day being to have fun and to play good rugby league, the boys set about their task with real relish.

The Panthers group contained Hayes & Ealing Vikings, London Skolars and local rivals Medway Dragons, whose banter suggested that they wanted some revenge for last year.

Panthers were first up against H & E Vikings, which they duly dispatched 16-0. The Panthers passing and movement set the tone for their displays though-out the day which were lauded by a number of spectators and coaches alike.

Next up was the Medway Dragons, which in truth could have gone either way. The Dragons scored with two break away tries, whilst the Panthers missed out twice on overlaps 10m out, and were unlucky to clip the post with a delicate chip over the top on 5th tackle 5m out. With the rest of the U14's to come back, along with some U15's, the 13 aside versions against Medway will be ones to watch.

Last game of the pool was against the London Skolars, which contained some powerful runners. Again the younger Panthers didn't back down, and restricted he Skolars to a single score. The Panthers movement and all round rugby league play, as with the previous two games was eye-catching, and ultimately led to a three score to one victory.

With two wins and a loss in the group stage, the Panthers didn't secure top spot, but went through to the semis as highest runner up. The Panthers and the Dragons both though that the semis was a round robin group, and the Panthers rested some players in what they thought was the first of three fixtures and it was only halfway through the match did it transpire that the game was a knockout.

Croydon have three or four strong, quick runners, and whilst the Panthers again played the better RL, they couldn't quite hold their nerve in the red zone and went down by two tries.

'It was a great learning curve for the youngsters today and most of the teams we played were surprised that the travelling group were all U14.' said the Panthers coach. 'Add to today's performance those that were missing, and the older ones and we'll have quite a promising team.' 'All the boys here today should be really proud of themselves, showing what can be done no matter the age.'