Hong
Kong salvages a third place finish
By
Alex Webbe
John Fisher led the Hong Kong attack on Wednesday to down
England 8-6 to take third place honors at the 2012 Fortune Heights Super
Nations Cup at the Goldin Metropolitan Polo Club in Tianjin, China Wednesday
afternoon in a five chukker consolation match.
Jose Donoso and John Fisher scored the first two goals of
the game to take an early 2-0 lead over England, but James Harper kept the
Brits from getting blanked in the opening chukker with a goal from the field. After one chukker of play, Hong Kong led,
2-1.
Fisher opened the second chukker with a goal just 1:35
into play, but James Beim countered with a goal for England who trailed
3-2. Fisher’s third goal of the day had
Hong Kong up, 4-2 with two minutes left in the chukker, but Beim’s second score
of the period at 6:35 cut the lead to a single goal once again, 4-3.
Defenses stiffened in the third, with a penalty goal from
John Paul Clarkin in the opening seconds of play giving Hong Kong a 5-3 edge. Harper answered with a goal for England less
than a minute later, cutting the lead back to a single goal, 5-4. Runs up and down the field were turned aside
by adroit defensive action and powerful backhanders as the period ground to a
close.
Three minutes into the fourth chukker Clarkin split the
English goalposts for a 6-4 Hong Kong lead, but a determined Harper responded
with his third goal of the game just over a minute later. Both teams had opportunities but the chukker
ended with Hong Kong on top of 6-5 score.
Hong Kong pulled out all stops in the final chukker, but
a resilient English defense kept them at bay until the 3:27 mark when Chris
MacKenzie scored his first goal of the match for a 7-5 Hong Kong
advantage. Two minutes later Fisher
tallied his first goal of the contest giving Hong Kong its largest lead of the
day, 8-5. England couldn’t break through
the Hong Kong defense until the 6:09 mark when Mark Tomlinson got them on the
scoreboard with his first scoring effort in an 8-6 Hong Kong victory.
Fisher led all scoring with four goals. Clarkin scored twice and MacKenzie and Donoso
each accounted for a goal.
Harper led the English attack with three goals. Beim scored twice and Tomlinson added a goal
in a losing effort.
The finals of the Fortune Heights Super Nations Cup are
scheduled for Friday, October 5th between the United States and
Argentina.