in Spain
By Alex Webbe
Facundo Pieres is on a run that is the envy of everyone in
polo as he and his Ellerston teammates (Ali
Paterson, Gonzalito Pieres, Facundo Pieres and John Williams) captured Spain’s
2013 Silver Cup at the Santa Maria Polo Club Friday evening in a 13-11 win over
Halcyon Gallery (Charlie Hanbury, Jota Chavanne, Guillermo Terrera and Max
Routledge).
The two teams played to a 2-2 tie after the opening seven
minutes of action, each searching out the other’s weaknesses while attempting
to mount successful attacks of their own.
The two Pieres brothers took the reins in their hands in the
second chukker and quickly ran up the score.
Not only are Gonzalito and Facundo two of the world’s top players, but
they have been playing together their whole lives and their teamwork was
perfectly synchronized. Halcyon Gallery was
held to a single goal and trailed by two, 5-3.
Three more Ellerston goals in the third stretched the lead
to three goals, 8-5. Halcyon Gallery
managed to find some offense, but the speed and play of the Pieres boys was too
much to contend with as they fell behind by three goals at the end of the first
half.
There was no let-up in the second half as Ellerston seemed
to get its second wind. Four more goals
were scored against a staggering Halcyon Gallery foursome who managed just a
single goal in response. After four chukkers of play Ellerston ruled
the field with a 12-6 advantage.
Halcyon Gallery scored three times in the fifth while limiting
Ellerston to just a single goal. Halcyon
Gallery had cut the Ellerston lead to four goals, 13-9, but there was some
concern that they were playing on cruise control, saving their horses for the
next tournament.
Halcyon Gallery outscored Ellerston again in the sixth
chukker, picking up two goals while limiting the Pieres boys to just one score.
Once again it appeared that the Ellerston team
was playing at half speed as they celebrated the 13-11 when at the final bell.
The victory was Facundo’s fourth straight major win dating back to the Zacara win in
the United States Open and following through Zacara’s sweep of the high-goal
season with wins in the Queens Cup and the British Open. Whether Facundo Pieres has the Midas touch
this year or might well be determined in Santa Maria Polo Club’s Gold Cup which
is scheduled to begin competition on Monday, August 19th with a
schedule to be announced.
Although the stickwork of Facundo Pieres is a matter of
fact, knowledgeable players gave the nod to his older brother Gonzalito today.
Royal Salute 9, HB Polo 8
Earlier in the day, Royal Salute Whiskey (Petrus Fernandini, Alejandro Muzzio,
Jaime Huidobro and Malcolm Borwick) scored a narrow 9-8 win over HB Polo (Ludovic
Pailloncy, Sebastian Pailloncy, Ignacio Toccalino and Pite Merlos) in the
subsidiary finals of the tournament.