Dubai Displays Strong Offense in Victory Over Dos Lunas
On the eighth day of the 2018 Copa de Oro, Dubai displayed a dominant offensive performance to defeat Dos Lunas 18-11 at the Santa Maria Polo Club.
In an offensively minded game, it was Dubai scoring an impressive 18 goals on accurate 14 for 18 shooting from the field. Bartolome Castagnola led the way for Dubai, shooting a perfect 100% from the field and the penalty line to finish with eight goals. Despite only winning 11 of 31 throw-ins in the game, Dubai controlled possession throughout the game and used their defence to limit Dos Lunas to just eight shot attempts. With Dos Lunas unable to generate offense from the field, they forced Dubai into 10 fouls resulting in eight penalty attempts, with Facundo Sola converting all eight attempts. Ultimately, Dubai’s performance in open play produced an offensive attack that couldn’t be slowed in the convincing seven-goal victory.
The opening chukka saw a combined five fouls from the two teams, with Dos Lunas being the benefactor as Sola converted three penalty attempts to give Dos Lunas the early 4-2 lead. Dubai improved their discipline throughout the second and third chukkas, allowing them to control open play and take advantage of a Dos Lunas team that was inaccurate in their attack. Dubai went on an 8-1 run for the remainder of the half, led by Camilo and Bartolome Castagnola who scored three goals each during the run, giving Dubai the 10-5 lead at halftime.
Holding a large five-goal lead, Dubai continued displaying an efficient offensive attack, adding three more goals on perfect shooting from the field, led by two goals from Rashid Albwardy. Dos Lunas countered with a goal each from Sola and Kian Hall but saw their deficit increase to six. Unable to get past the back line of Alfredo Cappella and Bartolome Castagnola, Dos Lunas failed to score a field goal over the final two chukkas, while Sola proceeded to add four more penalty goals, bringing his goal total to nine for the game. The performance wasn’t enough to overcome a balanced Dubai offense that produced 18 goals, with all four players contributing at least three goals each in victory.