The second day of competition in the 83rd Tortugas Open featured La Hache La Roca (Rufino Bensadon, Hilario Ulloa, Guillermo Caset, Francisco Elizalde) against La Irenita Clinova (Facundo Fernandez Llorente, Tomas Fernandez Llorente, Matias Torres Zavaleta, Isidro Strada) at Tortugas Country Club. Finalists of the Hurlingham Open, La Hache La Roca returned to the win column with a relentless attack where they amassed 37 shot attempts on goal.
Racing out to a quick 5-0 lead in the opening chukka, Bensadon and Elizalde combined for all five goals, with Elizalde converting both penalty attempts from the 40-yard and 60-yard lines. Teammates Caset and Ulloa added their names to the scoresheet early in the second chukka with Facundo Fernandez Llorente finally ending the scoring drought for La Irenita Clinova. It was a brief reprieve from La Hache La Roca’s impressive performance as they continued to drive towards goal. Producing a run of five unanswered goals, La Hache La Roca held a 12-1 advantage with a tally from Zavaleta before the end of the half leaving La Irenita Clinova trailing by ten.
In their best chukka of the match, La Irenita Clinova won the fifth chukka 2-1 on goals from Facundo Fernandez Llorente and Strada, but they were unable to challenge the dominance of La Hache La Roca in the second half. Caset and Elizalde produced two goals each during a three-and-a-half-minute span that firmly put the game out of reach with one chukka remaining. All four La Hache La Roca players contributed at least three goals each with Elizalde leading all players with nine goals to complete the 21-7 win.
After an impressive showing in the Hurlingham Open where they won the Subsidiary final, La Hache Cria & Polo (Lucas Monteverde Jr., Carlos Maria Ulloa, Facundo Sola, Joaquin Pittaluga) faced a difficult test against Ellerstina Yellow Rose (Gonzalo Pieres, Nicolas Pieres, Bautista Bayugar, Ignatius Du Plessis), needing to overcome a 5-goal difference in handicap. Each team had their opportunities in the match, with nearly identical shot and penalty attempts, leading the outcome to be decided by execution. La Hache Cria & Polo exited the first chukka with a slim 3-2 advantage after Ulloa scored with 30 seconds remaining before the first bell. Nicolas Pieres ignited the Ellerstina Yellow Rose attack, responsible for his team’s first four goals, but La Hache Cria & Polo demonstrated exceptional play through the second and third chukkas, as all four players found the scoreboard resulting in a 7-5 advantage. Despite holding just a 30-goal handicap to their opponent’s 35-goals, La Hache Cria & Polo maintained their advantage in the match and extended it one goal further with consecutive goals from Joaquin Pittaluga ending the first half with his team leading 9-6.
Foul trouble signalled trouble for Ellerstina Yellow Rose in the opening moments of the second half, as Pittaluga was sent to the penalty line on two different occasions inside the first two minutes, suddenly leaving Ellerstina Yellow Rose facing a five-goal deficit. Lucas Monteverde added his second goal of the match to continue La Hache Cria & Polo’s momentum and a significant 12-6 victory. However, the experience of Ellerstina Yellow Rose was evident as they began to fight their way back into the game. A 4-0 sixth chukka in favour of Ellerstina Yellow Rose was led by three goals from Nicolas Pieres, bringing his total to seven and tying the score at 12-all with one chukka remaining. Defense highlighted the final seven minutes with each team searching for the winning goal but it was Facundo Sola who played the hero, scoring just 20 seconds before the bell to claim the thrilling 13-12 triumph.
Photo Credit: ©Matías Callejo/Prensa AAP