The penultimate day of league matches featured teams who were looking to get closer to winning a ticket through to the next stage of this year’s tournament.
First up was Thai Polo/Get A Drip against Green Gates. Thai Polo/Get A Drip already had two wins under their belt and knew that a third could make them a little more confident of making the last eight. The good news for them was that they had Ned Hine back in the team. He had been subbed by Jose Araya for the previous match due to an injury he’d received in an earlier Queen’s Cup game. Meanwhile, Noor Khadra’s Green Gates knew victory was essential to at least have a hope of going through to the next round and so were focused from the first chukka. In fact, Green Gates finished ahead in every chukka. They were ahead 7-4 at half-time and then just built on this advantage, sensibly never letting Thai Polo/Get A Drip get any kind of foothold in the scoreline. Green Gates’ 12-9 win today means that both of these teams finish the league stages on two wins out of four.
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The second game, featuring La Dolfina Scone and Jean Paul Luksic’s Gaston was a much slower affair in terms of goals scored. The Guards TV commentator, Greg Keating, confirmed that the first half was the lowest scoring three chukkas in this year’s competition! There was some great play from every member of the La Dolfina Scone team, with Charlie Hanbury in particular making the most of any space. In addition, La Dolfina Scone features Adolfo Cambiaso, the player who holds the record for the most Queen’s Cup wins. Watching today’s game, it is clear he is eager to add to his record. The problem for Cambiaso today was that his long-time friend, Juan Martin Nero – they have won 10 Argentine Opens together – was a member of Gaston. Nero knows Cambiaso’s play probably as well as he does his own and would try to shut him down whenever he could. Hanbury and Gaston’s Ollie Cudmore are great friends too and so also know each other’s game inside out. That said, La Dolfina Scone were 4-1 up at half-time and never relinquished their lead. They went on to win this game 9-4, their third win of the competition.
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