Just one match today, but a great game on The Queen’s Ground at Guards Polo Club between two strong teams. One is returning to the high-goal after some time away, while the other is a new team to the English high-goal season.
League Three
UAE Polo 11 – 10 Black Bears
HH Sheikha Maitha and her UAE Polo Team continued their winning form this afternoon, but only after an exciting battle against the impressive Black Bears team of Guy Schwarzenbach. However what was most remarkable about this match was that it was not the big names that stood out on the field, but the younger and more inexperienced players of the game. The four-goaler Paco O’Dwyer, a nephew of a Vice President of Guards Polo Club, Lt Col Sean O’Dwyer, was brilliant this afternoon for Black Bears. He may not have any goals to his name but he was certainly instrumental in enabling his team-mates to score, including his patron Guy Schwarzenbach in the fourth chukka. Sheikha Maitha proved that she is a handy player herself, also scoring in the fourth chukka. This match started slowly with both teams with a goal apiece at the end of the first. However by the end of the third the UAE had built up a commanding 6-3 advantage, much of it due to the accurate penalty taking by Lucas Monteverde. In fact he scored all but three of his team’s 11 goals. John Paul Clarkin and Nachi Du Plessis scored all except one of the Black Bears goals and their consistently strong play continued to keep the Black Bears hopes alive throughout the match. The Bears had successfully closed the gap to just one goal in the fourth but could never fully rein in the UAE team and take command of this game. This meant that at the final bell they were still one goal adrift, allowing the honours to go to the UAE team. The Black Bears final league match is against the Salkeld team who only lost to the UAE team by a golden goal and so both Salkeld and Black Bears will be on their best ponies when they meet on 5 June in order to secure that vital second league win.
Tomorrow’s (Friday 31 May) matches
Talandracas v Cortium at 12 noon at Coworth Park: both teams already have a win under their belts and will be looking to confirm their dominance of League Four
El Remanso v Emlor at 3pm at Guards Polo Club: this will be these two teams final league match of 2013. Can El Remanso remain unbeaten and be guaranteed a place in the quarter-finals or will Emlor turn the tables and leave everyone guessing about League One for a few more days?