Ellerstina downs Alegria 21-16 in Jockey Club Open final
By Alex Webbe
Alegría (Magoo Laprida, Hilario Ulloa, Lucas Monteverde and Fred Mannix) and Ellerstina (Polito Pieres, Nicolás Pieres, Gonzalito Pieres and Facundo Pieres) played evenly through the opening three chukkers of the final of the 2015 Jockey club Open before Ellerstina took a lead in the fourth chukker that they never surrendered.
The two teams traded goals in the opening chukker with each putting a pair of goals on the scoreboard. At the end of the opening chukker it was all even at 2-2.
Ellerstina began to gel in the second. Polito Pieres kept the Alegria defenders busy as he spearheaded the front end of the Ellerstina lineup with Facundo, Gonzalito and Nico Pieres backing him up from behind. Ellerstina scored four times while limiting the Alegria offense to three goals. Ellerstina took the lead after two chukkers of play, 6-5.
Alegria wasn’t going to go away easily in spite of the firepower of the 39-goal Ellerstina lineup. Laprida and Ulloa proved to be dangerous at the front end of the Alegria lineup. It was Alegria with four goals in the third while three goals from Ellerstina had the game deadlocked at 9-9 after the third period.
Ellerstina had been upset by Alegria in the semifinals of the Argentine Open in 2013, and they were determined to take it out on the pink-shirted foursome in the Jockey Club Open final. Four more Ellerstina goals were answered by a single goal from Alegria. With just three chukkers left to play, Ellerstina had taken a three goal, 13-10 lead.
Ellerstina scored three more goals in the fifth, but Alegria hung in there, scoring two goals of their own. The Ellerstina lead had grown to four goals, but there was no quit from the Alegria side.
Alegria only managed a single score in the sixth but held Ellerstina to just two goals. With one period remaining in regulation play Ellerstina held a commanding five goals lead, 18-13, and Alegria didn’t seem to have an answer.
Ellerstina coasted through the final seven minutes of the match as Alegria struggled to close the gap. Ellerstina scored three times with Alegria matching them goal for goal. Ellerstina maintained their five goal lead as the final horn sounded in their 21-16 Jockey Club Open championship win.
Facundo Pieres led all scoring with ten goals (six on penalty conversions). Polito Pieres scored five times with Nico and Gonzalito Pieres adding three goals apiece. Magoo Laprida and Hilario Ulloa set the tone for the Alegria offense with five goals each. Fred Mannix scored half of his four goals on penalty shots and Lucas Monteverde was credited with two goals in a losing effort.
While Fred Mannix received the Gonzalo Tanoira Sportsmanship Award, Facundo Pieres’ Open Iranian received the AACCP Award for Best Playing Pony.
Alegria won’t have much time to review their play as they will open the first leg of the Argentine Triple Crown, the Tortugas Open, at 4pm on Tuesday, September 29th against Chapaleufú (Pepe Heguy, Nachi Heguy, Bautista Heguy and Eduardo Heguy). Ellerstina will have a longer rest before facing the loser of Wednesday’s Tortugas Open match between La Aguada/Las Monjitas and La Aguada.