MB Polo Defeats La Indiana in Copa de Oro
The second day of play in the 2019 Copa de Oro featured a strong sixth chukka from MB Polo to capture the 14-9 victory over La Indiana at Santa Maria Polo Club in Sotogrande.
A closely fought match saw a series of runs throughout the second half, with MB Polo’s additional opportunities from the field giving them the edge over La Indiana. A strong six goal performance from Bautista Ortiz de Urbina on perfect 100% shooting led La Indiana offensively, but it was the balanced offense from MB Polo that overcame La Indiana’s efficiency to claim the victory.
A fast pace was set in the opening chukka as MB Polo and La Indiana traded goals resulting in a 2-2 tie. Urbina scored both goals from the field, with Gonzalito Pieres distributing from the back of the game, but it was a persistent offensive attack from MB Polo that pushed them ahead in the second chukka. Outshooting La Indiana 5-0, MB Polo converted two attempts, led by patron HRH Prince Mateen Bolkiah’s second goal of the game, giving MB Polo the 4-2 lead. La Indiana stormed back to tie the game, taking advantage of three missed shots from MB Polo to build their attacks from knock-ins. A goal each from James Fewster and Urbina evened the score at 4-4 heading into halftime.
After a quick opening half that resulted in just two combined fouls, La Indiana committed three early fouls, leading to two penalty goals for Tommy Beresford as MB Polo built a large lead. In a perfect chukka where they also converted both attempts from the field, MB Polo kept La Indiana off the scoreboard and pushed their lead to four with two chukkas remaining. Unwilling to concede defeat La Indiana’s duo of Urbina and Gonzalito Pieres scored two goals each, pressuring the MB Polo defence, yet a balanced offense proved to be effective for MB Polo, thanks to the efforts of HRH Prince Mateen Bolkiah, who added his third goal on perfect shooting. With the outcome to be decided in the final chukka, MB Polo exploded for four goals, two each from Polito Pieres and Beresford to capture the 14-9 victory in their opening game of the Copa de Oro.