British
Open finals set-Zacara vs. Dubai
By
Alex Webbe
If Zacara (Facundo Pieres, Lyndon Lea, Rodrigo Andrade
and Matt Perry) thought it was going to be easy sailing Thursday afternoon in
semifinal action of the Veuve Clicquot Gold Cup for the British Open against Talandracas
(Edouard Carmignac, Juan Martin Nero, Lucas James and Juan Jauretche) at
Cowdray Park, they were sadly mistaken.
The magical combination of Rodrigo Andrade and Facundo Pieres that had
been met with little resistance throughout much of the Gold Cup play was met
with stiff resistance by Juan Martin Nero and Lucas James in the opening chukker
of semifinal play. Matching them goal
for goal, the first chukker ended in a 3-3 tie.
Both defenses stiffened in the second period with Zacara
managing a single goal. Talandracas was
held scoreless. Two chukkers into play
had Zacara sneaking in front of Talandracas, 4-3.
The defensive work of Zacara continued to hold in the
third while their offense went to work.
Three unanswered goals had Talandracas losing traction, and falling
behind by four goals, 7-3, at the end of the first half.
Zacara managed to tack two more goals on their total. Talandracas tallied its first goal since the
opening chukker. After four chukkers of
play, Zacara extended its lead to five goals, 9-4.
The teamplay and horsepower of the Zacara team continues
to take its toll on Talandracas. Zacara
scored four more goals in the fourth. At the end of the chukker Zacara has stretched
its lead over Talandracas to seven goals, 11-6.
Talandracas makes a late run, picking up two goals in the
sixth. Zacara outscores them once again
with three goals for the 14-8 final and a berth in Sunday’s finals.
DUBAI
17, EL REMANSO 7
El Remanso (Ali Paterson, George Hanbury, Pelon Stirling
and Guillermo Terrera) scored the first goal of the game, but Dubai (Rashid
Albwardy, Nico Pieres, Adolfo Cambiaso, and Alec White) was on their game. Outscoring El Remanso for the balance of the
chukker, Dubai left the field after the first seven minutes of play with a 3-2
lead.
Both offenses got their rhythm in the second
chukker. Dubai added five goals while El
Remanso scored three times. After two
chukkers Dubai held a three goal, 8-5 lead over El Remanso.
Defense was the byword of the third period. Dubai managed a single goal while El Remanso
was held scoreless. At the end of the
first half of play Dubai had extended its lead to four goals, 9-5.
Four more fourth chukker goals saw Dubai take further control
of the game with Adolfo Cambiaso and Nico Pieres clicking on offense. El
Remanso scored once, but fell behind by seven goals, 13-6 to end the period.
Three more goals for Dubai in the fifth pretty much
slammed the door on a struggling El Remanso offense that came up with a single
goal in the period. El Remanso trailed
Dubai by nine goals, 16-7, with one period left to play.
Dubai scored only a single goal in the final chukker, but
it was more than enough. Dubai shut down
the El Remanso for the second time in the game and rode away with the one-sided
17-7 victory. The win boosts Dubai into
the finals of the 2013 Veuve Clicquot British Open for the gold Cup, and will
pit Adolfo Cambiaso against Facundo Pieres for not only the British Open
Championship but for the top ranking position in polo.