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A C T I O N
B O T H S I D E S H A D O P P O R T U N I T I E S
T O W I N T H E G A ME E A R LY I N
T H E S E V E N T H C H U K K A
Richardson as the intensity of play continued.
With two chukkas left to play it was the US on
top, 7-5. Both defences tightened in the fifth
with Beresford scoring on a well-executed
shot from the field, cutting the American lead
to a single goal, 8-6. Another English foul
allowed Gonzalez to restore the team’s
two-goal lead, 8-6, to end the period.
The English dug in during the final period
of regulation play, combining oppressive
defence with desperate drives toward the
American goal. Cudmore brought England
to within a goal, with his second score of the
day. A high hook was whistled on Zenni
with under two minutes on the clock, and
Cudmore drove the 30-yard penalty goal
through the posts to knot the score at 8-8.
Cudmore took control of the following
throw-in and raced toward the American
goal. In what appeared to be the winning goal,
Azzaro appeared out of nowhere to backhand
the ball out of the goalmouth inches before
crossing the goal line as time ran out in
regulation play to force an overtime chukka.
Both sides had opportunities to win the
game early in the seventh chukka, with shots
being blocked or going wide. Midway through
the period, Obregon found himself on the end
of a long pass that he carried through the goal
for the 9-8 win.‘I kept saying to myself, don’t
miss’, he said, and with 3:37 left in overtime,
the United States stopped a four-game losing
streak and improved their record to 11-7.
When asked what he told his charges,
former 9-goaler Julio Arellano said:‘We
practiced well and worked on knock-in plays.
I stressed for them to take a man and stick
with him.The boys played well and Mike
(Azzaro) did everything that was asked of him’.
Obregon was named MVP for his disciplined
play, with the Best Thoroughbred honours
going to Peke Gonzalez’s mare, Geisha.
A post-game autopsy by former English
9-goaler Julian Hipwood had him questioning
the second-half strategy of trying to hold the
ball.‘I thought they were much more effective
when they were playing hit and run,’ he said.
‘I don’t know why they changed strategies.’
Beresford and Obregon played pooled horses
with little if any negative effect. Could playing
on pooled strings be a wave of the future?
We’ll have to wait and see. The Westchester
Cup has returned to the US and a crop of new,
young players successfully debuted.
