Two matches on Sunday completes day eight of the Cartier Queen’s Cup
RH Polo 10 – 8 Sifani
RH Polo are on target to head up League Two, with only one league match left for them to play in their 2017 Cartier Queen’s Cup campaign. They remain unbeaten after today’s comfortable 10-8 win over Hilali Noordeen’s Sifani team. This was a fairly quiet game at Coworth Park and although Sifani levelled the scores twice – first with a 60-yard penalty from Julian de Lusarreta in the third and then a goal from John Paul Clarkin in the fourth – RH Polo remained calm. They were very much in the driving seat from the first chukka and just to emphasise the point Adolfo Cambiaso sprung into life in the final chukka, firing through the penultimate two goals of the match. That said though, this was very much a team effort with patron Ben Soleimani scoring twice in this match, as did Tommy Beresford, while Rodrigo de Andrade successfully converted a penalty.
La Bamba de Areco 12 – 10 Murus Sanctus
The second game was a tighter and faster affair, with both teams looking for that all important semi-final knockout place. La Bamba, who were without their patron Jean Francois Decaux, fielded young Ned Hine, son of former England captain Andrew. They also welcome back Diego Cavanagh after his fall last week. La Bamba had control of this match in the first two chukkas and were 4-3 up at the start of the third. Murus Sanctus turned things around in the third with Facundo Sola – who had a great game for Corinne Ricard’s team – scoring first in this chukka. Hilario Ulloa then converted a penalty and Ricard herself scored. With Martin Podesta putting through the 12th goal of the match – Cristian Laprida had fired one through earlier in this chukka for La Bamba – Murus Sanctus were in the lead (7-5) going into half-time. However, La Bamba must have had an amazing team talk as they shot through two goals and two penalties to none in reply from Murus to take a 9-7 lead in the fourth. It was the opposite story in the fifth, with Ulloa scoring twice to level the scores going into the sixth. This game was still very open, but thanks to three more goals for La Bamba when it mattered, they won the match, and the Richard Watt Cup, 12-10. Sola’s team might not have won today, but he would have undoubtedly won the best goal of the tournament prize. In this final chukka, Sola hit the ball from around the centre of the field, but it bounced. Incredibly he connected his stick to the ball in mid-air and scored!
Next matches – Tuesday 6 June
11am La Indiana v Sommelier at Manor Farm
3pm El Remanso v Monterosso Polo Team, ground TBC