Luke Tomlinson secures Alegria’s place at Hurlingham and Palermo
by Miles Lewis
England’s hopes of sharing some Triple Crown glory remained intact yesterday as Alegria beat La Baronesa 11-10, with a sudden death goal in an extra chukka, qualifying for the Hurlingham and Palermo Opens. While the merits of the new rules on turning and backhands are still hotly debated by the polo fraternity here, this game demonstrated many of their benefits from the spectators’ point of view. Teams are much less reliant on a single outstanding individual on the day and forced to play continual, open, running polo. Set plays and team positioning have become more vital, with little respite to be gained from closing down the play and holding onto the ball.
Alegria stormed ahead to a 4-0 lead in the first chukka, and remained ahead for the first half of the game. La Baronesa responded strongly and dominated the play as Alegria failed to convert the opportunities they created. Errors from Tomlinson, who was yellow carded in the sixth chukka when, leaving the ball for a team mate he proceeded to T-bone an opposition player and Fransisco Bensadon whose voluble protests against an obvious foul resulted in a technical, didn’t help. However, Tomlinson’s play fully justified his 8 goal handicap here and Juan Merlos positioned himself supremely for Luke’s passes.
With 30 seconds of the seventh chukka remaining, La Baronesa was leading 10 – 9 but Alegria continued to push with energy and aggression, equalizing in the final second and forcing an extra chukka. After some intense play, Alegria were awarded a 40 yard penalty and Luke Tomlinson held his nerve, converting and sealing Alegria’s victory.
In the other deciding match, El Paraiso beat Trenque Lauquen 7-6 and secured the remaining qualifying spot.
Alegria: Frederick Mannix (h) 6 (3 goals), Francisco Bensadon 8 (2 goals), Juan I Merlos 9 (4 goals) and Luke Tomlinson 8 (2 goals, of which 1 penalty); Total 31
La Baronesa: Nicolas Pieres 7, Cristian Laprida (h) 7 ( 1 goal), Marcos Di Paola 8 (8 goals, of which 6 penalties) and Alejandro Agote 8 (1 goal); Total 30