Two extremely close and tightly contested matches had crowds on the edges of their picnic mats on Saturday 13th at Cowdray Park Polo Club as the first foursome of the quarter finalists did their best to secure those elusive Semi Final spots and continue their journeys to Gold Cup glory.
Match 1
Such a tight an exciting start to the Quarter Finals, this match up had it all. Never more than a goal from each other, it was truly anyone’s game. Incredible team plays made for beautiful, strategic polo, treating audiences to some high goal magic as the ball fired up and down the field. Poroto and Cavanagh proved once again why they were one of the favourite teams going into this tournament with pinpoint passing and accuracy in front of goal while their trust in Kian Hall led to some excellent team plays.
Desert Palm stepped up to the challenge, in fact leading more times than La Dolfina Great Oaks and going into the final chukka 10-9 up they surely thought this was their day, but having equalised, Poroto and Cavanagh produced one of the plays of the tournament with a backhand that Poroto plucked out of the air before hitting it on the nearside and scoring with an under the neck shot to put them into the lead and secure their spot in the Semis.
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Another super close game it was the turn of UK season stalwart King Power to take on the newcomers Valhalla. Played under heavy rainfall, this was another tight battle with the lead switching by the minimum difference. Valhalla had the advantage going into halftime but King Power managed to recuperate in the 4th to 1 goal up, a lead which they managed to maintain up until the final whistle despite tough opposition from Valhalla who have had a great Gold Cup.
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