La
Dolfina dominates Hurlingham Open final, 18-11
By
Alex Webbe
Adolfo Cambiaso and his La Dolfina teammates (Pelon
Stirling, Pablo MacDonough and Juan Martin Nero) beat Ellerstina (Facundo
Pieres, Gonzalito Pieres, Mariano Aguerre and Nico Pieres) with an exclamation
mark Sunday afternoon at the Hurlingham Club in Buenos Aires, defending its
2011 Hurlingham Open title and atoning for its earlier loss to Ellerstina in
the finals of the Tortugas Open.
The match began tentatively with La Dolfina scoring twice
while holding Ellerstina to a single goal.
After the first seven minutes of play, La Dolfina took the early 2-1
lead.
La Dolfina took
control of the game in the second chukker, scoring four unanswered goals while
a bewildered Ellerstina offense was ineffective. Two chukkers into the Hurlingham Open and La
Dolfina stretched its lead to four goals, 5-1.
The Ellerstina attack began to show dividends in the
third period, outscoring La Dolfina 3-2.
La Dolfina continued to lead, but Ellerstina had managed to cut the lead
to three goals, 7-4.
For the second consecutive chukker, Ellerstina cut into
the La Dolfina lead. Ellerstina added
two more goals in the fourth while limiting the La Dolfina attack to a single
goal. At the end of the first half La Dolfina
continued to lead, 8-6.
La Dolfina got the teamwork going again in the second
half, putting up two goals in the fifth chukker while holding Ellerstina to a
single goal. The La Dolfina lead was
stretched to three goals again, 10-7.
Ellerstina fell behind four goals in the sixth as La
Dolfina added two more goals to their total.
Ellerstina added a single goal, but fell further behind, 12-8.
Four more goals from La Dolfina in the seventh chukker
had Ellerstina trailing by seven goals (Ellerstina managed a single goal in the
period), 16-9, with one chukker left in regulation time.
Ellerstina battled throughout the final chukker, managing
to score twice, but a pair of goals from La Dolfina kept them on top of the
final 18-11 score.
Not only had La Dolfina made up for its earlier loss to
Ellerstina in the Tortugas Open finals, they did it with authority.
The smart money seems to be moving toward the La Dolfina
camp as the two top-rated teams in Argentine Open competition look to compete
in this year’s rubber match.