La Bamba de Areco Impresses in Exceptional Second Half
The opening game of Day 5 of the 2018 Cartier Queen’s Cup saw Les Lions secure their first win with an 8-7 victory over Monterosso at Coworth Park Polo Ground.
In a close game throughout, Les Lions were able to take advantage of foul trouble from Monterosso in the second half, outscoring their opponents by two goals from the penalty line. Despite a strong game from Ignacio Toccalino, who finished with six of Monterosso’s seven goals, Les Lions countered with a five-goal performance from Joaquin Pittaluga and two key goals from Max Gottschalk to complete the narrow one goal victory.
The game began with both teams trading goals over the opening two chukkas, with neither team able to build an early lead. After a relatively fast paced start to the game, fouls slowed play as the teams combined for seven fouls in the third chukka to end the first half. Two penalty conversions for Joaquin Pittaluga brought Les Lions into a 4-4 tie at halftime with little separating the two teams.
Les Lions edged into the lead early in the second half as they applied pressure defensively to keep Monterosso off the scoresheet. Gottschalk added a goal from the field to give his team the one-goal advantage, which they maintained through the fifth chukka and into the sixth and deciding chukka. Ignacio Toccalino continued his offensive performance, scoring his sixth goal of the game, but a penalty 4 conversion for Joaquin Pittaluga sealed the outcome as Les Lions held on for the narrow 8-7 victory.
The second game of the day saw another dominant performance from La Bamba de Areco as they defeated Talandracas 12-7 on the Duke’s Ground at Guards Polo Club.
The match saw a tale of two halves, with Talandracas controlling the first half due to the efforts of Francisco Elizalde and Alejandro Muzzio as they raced out to a three-goal lead. La Bamba de Areco were a different team in the second half as they quickly erased the deficit and pulled away in the final chukka. Pressuring Talandracas, La Bamba de Areco forced their opponents into inaccuracte shooting while David Stirling converted all three of his penalty attempts. La Bamba de Areco outscored Talandracas 10-2 in the second half, to finish with the easy five-goal victory.
Talandracas stunned their opponents early in the game, with Hughes Carmignac opening the scoring. Elizade and Muzzio scored two each to further extend Talandracas’ lead as La Bamba de Areco were stunned at the Talandracas attack. Finishing the first half with a 5-2 lead, Talandracas seemed set to complete their second win of the tournament.
Their lead quickly disappeared in the fourth chukka with La Bamba de Areco scoring five goals behind the dynamic duo of Juan Martin Nero and Stirling. Unable to mount their own attack, Talandracas was constantly on the defensive trying to slow the work of Nero and Stirling. After an even fifth chukka, La Bamba de Areco pulled away from Talandracas for good with a 4-0 sixth chukka, with Stirling adding his 5th and 6th goals of the game. Playing in place of Jean-Francois Decaux, Zac Beim had an impressive showing as he contributed with one goal and displayed good teamwork alongside his elite back line. La Bamba de Areco improves to 2-0 as they look to continue their run through the Cartier Queen’s Cup.