Polo action in Spain has three
winners
By Alex Webbe
Jamie Packer’s Ellerston polo team (Johnny Williams, Ali
Patterson, Gonzalo Pieres and Facundo Pieres) jumped out to an early 5-1 lead
in the opening chukker as they put everyone on notice as to what the two
10-goalers were capable of on the field.
Dos Lunas (A Sainzde Vicuna, Jason Warren, Diego Cavanagh
and Tomas Garcia Del Rio) appeared unsettled in the first chukker, but returned
to the field a more relaxed and confident force. Dos Lunas took control of the game in the
second period, outscoring Ellerston 4-1, and trailed by a single goal, 6-5.
While the Ellerston offense stagnated, Dos Lunas got on
track. Four more goals in the third
period went unanswered as Dos Lunas left the field at the end of the first half
on the winning end of a 9-6 score.
Whether they brought out the “good horses†of just focused
on matters at hand, Ellerston got back on track in the fourth chukker. Ellerston scored five times while limiting
the Dos Lunas offense to a single goal.
At the end of the fourth period Ellerstina held a one goal lead,
11-10.
The two teams matched one another goal-for-goal in the fifth
period, with each team putting three goals on the scoreboard. Dos Lunas continued to press and Ellerston
continued to defend as sixth chukker action took center stage. The Pieres brothers put on a show for all in
attendance, adding two more goals to their total in the 16-14 victory.
HALCYON GALLERY 12,
AYALA 11 OT
Halcyon Gallery (Charley Hanbury, Oliver Cudmore, Guillermo
Terrera and Max Routledge) scored their first win of the Silver Cup with a hard
fought 12-11 win over Ayala (Inigo Zobel, Guillermo Willington, Pablo
MacDonough and Juan Jauretche) that was decided in sudden-death overtime.
The score was tight in the opening chukkers with Ayala eking
out a 6-5 lead at the end of the first half.
Halcyon Gallery scored four goals in the fourth chukker
while Ayala managed just two. At the end
of the period, Halcyon took a 9-8 lead.
Both defenses were at their best in the fifth. Ayala was blanked while Halcyon Gallery
managed a single goal. The lead has been
stretched to two goals, 10-8.
Ayala stormed the field in the sixth period, scoring three
goals while Halcyon Gallery managed only a single goal. The score was all even at the end of
regulation time, and a sudden-death overtime period was played.
The last half rally by Ayala fell short in overtime as Halcyon
Gallery scored the winning goal in the 12-11 game.
UAE 21, EL ROSARIO 11
Alejandro Penafiel’s El Rosario team (Alejandro Penafiel,
Valerio Zubiaurre, Milo Fernandez and Salvador Ulloa) took it on the chin today
in Silver Cup play as UAE (Tommy Beresford, Jack Richardson, Lucas Monteverde
and Pablo MacDonough) pummeled them in a 21-11 rout.
UAE was playing with Tommy Beresford in place of HH Sheikha
Maitha Al Maktoum. He will play with UAE
for the balance of the week.
Play will continue in Silver Cup play at the Santa Maria
Polo Club on Wednesday with two matches scheduled on the day. Royal
Salute (1-0) is scheduled to face Scapa (1-0) followed by a match between HB
Polo (0-1) and Dubai (0-1).