Murus Sanctus-La Magdeleine 15 – 14 Great Oaks LL
UAE Polo Team 12 – 7 Talandracas
What a start to day 10 of the Cartier Queen’s Cup 2021. A wonderful battle between Dillon Bacon’s Great Oaks LL and Alexandre Garese’s Murus Sanctus-La Magdeleine ended in a narrow one-goal victory for the French team. The score see-sawed between the teams thanks to some fabulous goals from both sides – not least Facundo Sola’s amazing hit to goal in the second to ensure Murus Sanctus-La Magdeleine kept the lead going into the next chukka. Meanwhile Guillermo Terrera and Barto Castagnola’s ability to run to goal from the throw-ins, combined with Cruz Heguy’s strong defensive game, ensured Great Oaks stayed in contention every step of the way. At the end of the fourth Great Oaks LL were ahead 13-10 and it looked as if they had successfully turned this match in their favour. Caset and Sola had other ideas though, adding four goals on the scoreboard to bring them right back into the heart of this match (14-14) going into the sixth and final chukka. Everyone was now holding their breath – this was anyone’s game. Guillermo suffered mixed fortunes in these final seven minutes by scoring a high hit to goal to take the lead and then hitting the ground when his horse fell. Fortunately both were fine but there was no break in the pressure. Sola levelled the scores once more and with seconds left to play Caset scored the winner.
The second match of the day could not have been more different. UAE Polo Team, again featuring Cata Lavinia in place of Sheikha Maitha, dominated this match. Talandracas, playing with their patron Edouard Carmignac for the first time in this competition, could not get going. There were some lovely goals from Jeta Castagnola and Diego Cavanagh, who was also shown a yellow card in the second chukka, but Talandracas struggled to convert winning throw-ins into goals. Cata was good in defence for UAE, doing a great job of keeping Jeta away from the ball, while Tomy Beresford had a strong game at back. He fired through six of UAE’s goals today while also keeping their back door firmly shut. Polito Pieres made the most of any space he was given and so UAE Polo were 7-3 up at half-time, Delivering more of the same in the second half, they won this game 12-7 to retain their unbeaten status.
Images to follow – copyright Images of Polo