Thousands turn out to watch polo stars at Watergate Bay

Thousands turn out to watch polo stars at Watergate Bay

A record number of spectators turned out on the sands of Watergate Bay to watch a scintillating exhibition of polo from some of England’s top players and Olympic Eventing star Mary King.

Almost 4,000 people attended the sixth edition of Veuve Clicquot Polo on the Beach on Tuesday evening 11 September 2012, which saw team Joules earn a hard-fought victory over reigning champions First Great Western.  

Five goals from England squad member Jamie Le Hardy helped his team win by 9 goals to 6 1/2, and claim the Most Valuable Player trophy presented by HSBC.

Mr Le Hardy said: “It was a really nice open game, everyone played really well. We [Joules] were lucky they missed a few goals in the second chukka, and apart from that it was pretty even really, a good game of polo.”

First Great Western, captained by Wadebridge resident Andy Burgess, started the match with a half goal handicap advantage but it was the Joules team who looked the most threatening with Nick Clegg narrowly missing with a strong driven shot.

His teammate Jamie Le Hardy soon took Joules into the lead, scoring the opening goal of the match. Tim Vaux pushed them further ahead with two more goals, bringing their total to three goals at the end of the first chukka.

The second chukka saw James Harper, who last week played for the winning England team against Argentina, score First Great Western’s first goal of the match and the only goal of the chukka, making the score Joules 3 – 1 1/2 First Great Western at half time.

In true polo tradition, spectators flooded onto the pitch at half time to tread in the playing surface while the players changed their ponies and prepared for the second half of the match.

In an action-packed third chukka First Great Western went ahead for the first time in the match through a goal from Andrew Blake Thomas and a penalty scored by Andy Burgess, but Joules quickly reasserted their lead with a goal from Tim Vaux and two more from Jamie Le Hardy within the space of a couple of minutes.

Further goals from First Great Western’s James Harper and Joules’s Tim Vaux took the score at the end of the third chukka to Joules 7 – 4 1/2 First Great Western.

Andrew Blake Thomas scored the first goal of the final chukka for First Great Western, following up after his teammate James Harper’s strike bounced off the post. Despite Andy Burgess adding another penalty, Jamie Le Hardy scored twice more to bring the final score to Joules 9 – 6 1/2 First Great Western.

Commentator Peter West said: “I thought the match was absolutely fantastic, the teams were very attack orientated but equally their defence was marvellous as well. Every polo player is competitive, regardless of whether it’s an exhibition match like this, and out there they were really going for it. As far as I’m concerned it’s probably the best beach polo match I’ve had the good fortune to commentate on, it really was end to end. You could see the final scoreboard – a lot of goals – which is what everybody comes to see.”

Before the exhibition match, spectators watched Olympic silver medallist Mary King take part in a public polo lesson before trying her hand at match play in a demonstration chukka.

Will Ashworth of Watergate Bay Hotel joined Mary for the lesson, which was led by South West Polo’s Andy Burgess. Mary was paired with match umpire Caspar West to go head to head with Will and Andy Burgess in the demonstration chukka.

With scores level at one goal each as the hooter blew, the chukka was decided with a penalty shoot out. Each player successfully converted their first two goals with the exception of Andy Burgess, who shot wide to hand victory to Mary King and Caspar West.

Mary said: “I really enjoyed it; I was thrilled when I made good contact with the ball a couple of times and the ball went on ahead of me. I would love to play a bit more polo in the future.”

After the match, the trophies were presented on the beach. The prize for the Best Playing Pony presented by Terrazas de los Andes was awarded to Aceto, an Argentine gelding ridden by James Harper and owned by Rob and Jemima Brockett of Lychett Heath Polo Club in Dorset, who supplied the majority of the ponies for the match.

Jamie Le Hardy was presented with the HSBC Most Valuable Player trophy by Arthur de Lencquesaing, Brand Manager for Veuve Clicquot UK in recognition of his outstanding performance.

Mr de Lencquesaing said: “Veuve Clicquot is delighted to be title sponsor of such a dynamic and exhilarating event as Polo on the Beach. This stunning exhibition match set on the majestic Watergate Bay is fast becoming one of the polo highlights for the season.”

The final honour fell to Mary King to award The Watergate Bay Trophy, sponsored by Mercedes-Benz of Truro, to Joules captain Jamie Le Hardy.

Veuve Clicquot Polo on the Beach will return to Watergate Bay in autumn next year. For more information about the event visit www.watergatebay.co.uk/polo/.