Bendabout Stays Undefeated with Victory
By Alex Webbe
A balanced attack and an aggressive defense led Bendabout to its second consecutive win in Joe Barry Memorial Cup play Wednesday afternoon at the International Polo Club in Wellington.
The 11-9 win drops Valiente from the ranks of the undefeated and puts Bendabout on the fast track for a playoff berth.
Early goals by Robert Jornayvaz, Steward Armstrong and Jeff Hall had Valiente out in front 3-2 after the opening chukker of play. Chris Nevins and Inaki Laprida scored single goals for Bendabout in first chukker action.
Three Hall split the uprights three more times in the second. Bendabout got goals from Laprida and Lucas Criado, and the second period ended with Valiente holding on to a 6-4 lead.
Hard checks and aggressive attacks set the early pace of the game, but when Bendabout took the field in the third chukker, the complexion of the game changed.
Bendabout pressed the Valiente defense to the breaking point in the third, getting single goals from the field from Gillian Johnston, Laprida and Criado.
When the teams left the field at the end of the first half, Bendabout had rebounded to take a narrow 7-6 lead. Laprida delivered the only goal of the fourth chukker for Bendabout as Valiente was held scoreless for the second consecutive chukker, and trailed 8-6.
Valiente cut the lead to a single goal in after the fifth, 9-8, and allowed Valiente to tie it up in the sixth on a goal from Armstrong, but two straight goals from Criado ended the drama as Bendabout took the win, 11-9.
Hall led all scoring with six goals for Valiente (1-1). Armstrong scored twice and Jornayvaz added a goal in a losing effort.
Criado led Bendabout (2-0) with five goals. Laprida scored four times and Johnston and Nevins each scored a single goal in the win.
FARAWAY 14, ERG 11
Faraway evened its record at 1-1 after an impressive offensive showing that delivered a 14-11 win for them at the expense of Scott Wood’s ERG (0-2) team.
Aggressive defensive play by Faraway got them in trouble early as Paco De Narvaez scored three times in the opening chukker (twice on penalty shots) to go out in front early 3-1. Julio Arellano scored the sole Faraway goal on a shot from the field.
ERG fouled its way into trouble in the second, giving up three goals on penalty shots. Freddie Mannix scored the only goal for ERG in the period, and the teams left the field in a 4-4 tie.
Goals from Arellano and Sugar Erskine put Faraway ahead, 6-4, but a late penalty goal, converted by De Narvaez, cut the lead to a single goal, 6-5, with Faraway holding to the lead.
Penalty conversions from Arellano and Julio Gracida were answered by a single penalty goal from De Narvaez, and after four chukkers of play Faraway continued to lead, 8-6.
The pace picked up in the fifth. Gracida and Arellano scored two goals apiece while ERG got goals from Santiago Torres, Freddie Mannix and De Narvaez. Faraway extended its lead to three goals, 12-9.
Arellano secured his seventh and eighth goals of the contest on penalty shots in the sixth while ERG go a pair of goals from De Narvaez and a single goal from Torres. Time expired with Faraway coasting to a 14-12 win.
Arellano set the pace for Faraway with eight goals. Gracida added five goals and Erskine accounted for one goal.
ERG’s De Narvaez scored eight times with teammates Torres and Mannix adding a pair of goals apiece in a losing effort.
The win gives Faraway a 1-1 record while ERG falls to 0-2.
Action will continue in the 2011 Joe Barry Memorial Cup competition on Thursday, January 13 with a 1 pm game between Mt. Brilliant (1-0) and Patagones (0-1), followed by a 3 pm contest between Zacara (0-1) and Lucchese (1-0).