Black
Bears, Dubai and Zacara winners in British Open play on Thursday
By
Alex Webbe
Enigma (Jerome Wirth, Charlie Hanbury, Guillermo
Willington and Sapo Caset) was looking to improve on its 1-1 record Thursday
afternoon in their meeting with Black Bears (Guy Schwarzenbach, Nachi du
Plessis, John Paul Clarkin and Patrick O’Dwyer) on the River Field in the 2013
Veuve Clicquot British Open for the Gold Cup at the Cowdray Park Polo Club.
Black Bears got off to an energetic start, scoring three
goals in the opening chukker of Thursday’s first British Open game. Enigma was held to a single goal, and trailed
3-1 after the first seven minutes of play.
Defenses stepped up in the second chukker. Enigma and Black Bears exchanged single
goals, and after two periods of action, Black Bears maintained their two goal
lead, 4-2.
There was no let up from John Paul Clarkin and Nachi du
Plessis as the scored three unanswered goals against a stunned Enigma foursome
on Cowdray Park’s River Field. Enigma
(1-1) continues to have a shot at making the tournament semifinals but is going
to have to stage a second half rally if they are to defeat the Black Bears
(0-2).
Enigma scored for the first time since the second
chukker, but it was a case of too little too late. Black Bears had stretched the lead to seven
goals, 9-2, with the opening two goals of the second half. Enigma scored two of the last three goals in
the fourth period, but it was the Black Bears with a commanding 10-4 lead at
the end of the chukker.
Black Bears continued to roar in the fifth. A smothering defense was aided by two more
goals to extend the lead to eight goals, 12-4 with Enigma looking for an answer
to the swarming Black Bears attack.
Enigma managed a single goal in the chukker, but two more goals had
Black Bears on top by an impressive nine goals, 14-5 with one chukker left to
play. Two more goals from Black Bears
were answered by a single goal from enigma in the worst beat down of the
tournament since Enigma’s June 25th 15-5 win over Thai Polo.
The loss drops Enigma’s record to 1-2 while Black Bears (1-2)
recorded their first win of the 2013 Veuve Clicquot British Open.
DUBAI
13, LA BAMBA DE ARECO 12
When you have a Pieres and
Adolfo Cambiaso on the field at the same time, you can always expect fireworks,
Fourth of July or not, but Thursday’s British Open game between Dubai (Rashid
Albwardy, Nico Pieres, Adolfo Cambiaso, Alec White) and La Bamba de Areco (Jean
Francois Decaux, Polito Pieres, Gonzalito Pieres and Ollie Cudmore) featured no
less than three of the Pieres family and Adolfo Cambiaso in a showdown of two
undefeated teams.
La Bamba de Areco jumped out
to an early 2-0 lead before Dubai got their bearings. A Dubai goal cut the lead to a single goal,
2-1, but La Bamba de Areco responded with their third goal of the first
chukker. Dubai tagged on a final goal
before the period ended with La Bamba de Areco leading, 3-2.
Cambiaso and Nico Pieres
wasted little time in setting the course for Dubai in the second chukker. Consecutive goals tied La Bamba de Areco at
3-3 and then sent Dubai ahead, 4-3. The
two teams exchanged goals as Dubai maintained their one goal lead, 5-4. Dubai stretched their lead to two goals, 6-4,
with their fourth goal of the period. La
Bamba de Areco cut the lead back to 6-5 with their second goal of the chukker
to end the second chukker.
The third chukker belonged
to Dubai. Ringing up three straight
goals and shutting down the offensive combination of Gonzalito and Polito
Pieres, Dubai rode away with a 9-5 halftime lead.
La Bamba de Areco scored the
opening goal of the fourth chukker, but when all was said and done, Dubai
continued to be in control. The two
teams exchanged goals thru the course of the fourth period of play with Dubai
maintaining a four goal lead, 11-7.
Fifth chukker action saw La
Bamba de Areco score the first two goals of the chukker, cutting the Dubai lead
to two goals, 11-9. The Dubai defense
stemmed the La Bamba de Areco attack and the chukker ended with Dubai leading
by two goals.
La Bamba de Areco and Dubai
exchanged goals in the opening minutes of the sixth chukker, 12-10. A goal by La Bamba de Areco cut the lead to a
single goal, 12-11 with three minutes left in the chukker. With one minute on the clock, Gonzalito
Pieres ties it up at 12-12. Dubai
rallied for the final goal of the game with under a minute to play for the
13-12 win.
Dubai improved their record
to 3-0. La Bamba de Areco falls to 2-1.
ZACARA
vs. HB POLO
Both HB Polo (Ludovic Pailloncy, Ignacio Toccalino, Pite
Merlos and Sebastian Pailloncy) and Zacara (Facundo Pieres, Lyndon Lea, Rodrigo
Andrade and Matt Perry) had trouble getting into synch with teammates in the opening
chukker of the final game of the day in the 2013 Veuve Clicquot British Open
for the Gold Cup as they settled for an uneventful 1-1 first chukker.
Zacara posted two goals in the second chukker for a 4-2 lead. HB Polo scored once but trailed 4-2 at the
end of the second period.
Three unanswered Zacara goals extended the lead to five
gals as HB Polo was unable to break through the Zacara defense. At the end of the first half, Zacara was
sitting on top of a 7-2 lead.
HB Polo made every effort to put some goals on the scoreboard
in the fourth chukker, but Zacara wasn’t having any of it, comfortable to carry
their 7-2, five goal lead into the fifth chukker. Neither team scored as Zacara continued to
control the game.
Zacara added fur more goals over the final two chukkers
of the game while HB Polo added just two more goals with Zacara clearly in
control. Zacara continued to make a case
for a second consecutive major tournament win as it remained unbeaten at 2-0. HB Polo leaves the field with a disappointing
0-3 record.
British Open play continues on Friday, July 5th
with El Remanso (2-0) meeting UAE (2-0) at 1PM followed by a 3PM match between
Lucchese (0-2) and Emlor (0-2).