Gold Cup – 01/07/09

Dubai victorious over El Remanso in a match full of thrills and spills

 

By Antje Derks

 

It was an important match for both teams, but it was thanks to Adolfo Cambiaso that Dubai walked away with a three goal victory over El Remanso.

 

Adolfo is playing better than ever and showed no signs of injury, despite having had to sit out two matches in this year’s Queen’s Cup due to a torn riding muscle. Indeed, Cambiaso won the first ball from the throw-in and scorched up the field to score before people had even realised the match was under way. Seconds later he scored again.

 

El Remanso on the other hand started without George Hanbury, who suffered a head injury and concusion after his match against Azzurra last week. He was replaced by Charlie Wooldridge. It seems Lolo Castagnola was still putting the fear of God into his team, with an awful lot of very vocal commentary. Interestingly, the team played much better after Castagnola had a nasty fall in the third chukka and was replaced, after much searching, by Lucas Monteverde, who usually plays for Talandracas.

 

Up until Lolo’s replacement, El Remanso were trailing Dubai 8 – 4, but once Lucas had found his feet he and his team played superbly. The match might have been tighter, had El Remanso made the most of their opportunities. Several times the ball was right in front of their goal, but sadly noone seemed to be able to do anything much with it.

 

In all it was a match full of passion and whistles. Cambiaso remonstrated with the umpires and with his team mates, but unlike Castagnola he was perfectly entitled to do so; the man played like a God, all over everyone, playing every position and turning on the ball with such lightening precision it was like poetry in motion. If he carries on in this vein and continues to be backed-up by his team mates, Dubai must be seen as very serious contenders.

Final scores: Dubai 12; El Remanso 9