Harcourt Developments Queens Cup gets underway
Despite the gloomy economic outlook, eighteen teams have entered this year’s Harcourt Developments Queen’s Cup at Guards Polo Club. Current holders, Ellerston, are not defending their title this year. Its stars, Gonzalito and Facundo Pieres have been booked by Jean-Francois Decaux’s team, La Bamba De Areco.
Matches got underway yesterday, (Tuesday), with a League Two match between Habtoor and Talandracas. It was an exciting game that threatened to go into an eighth chukka, as new team Habtoor didn’t score until six minutes into extra time. Talandracas looked stronger in the first half of the match but Habtoor proved themselves the more dominant team in the later stages of the game. The final result was Habtoor 10, Talandracas 9. The other League Two game took place between Les Lions II and Azzurra. Max Gottschalk’s team nipped in and beat Azzurra by a goal, taking the match 11 – 10.
The Group One match took place between Apes Hill and Billingbear Park. The Apes Hill line-up is slightly different from last year, having lost Ed Hitchman and Tom Morley. Instead Charlie Hanbury and Juan Gris Zavaleta join Luke and Mark Tomlinson. This re-jig seems to have paid off, since Apes Hill dominated their game, and put on a magnificent display of team play to beat Billingbear Park soundly 13 – 8.
Action continues today (Wednesday) with the first match starting at Guards at 12 noon. La Bamba De Areco will take on Sumaya.