Scone Captures Crucial Victory Against Les Lions/Great Oaks
The ninth day in the 2020 Cartier Queen’s Cup began with Next Generation joining Park Place with a 3-0 record after defeating Monterosso 10-9 on the final play of the game at Guards Polo Club, while Scone captured a crucial 15-12 victory over Les Lions/Great Oaks on the grounds of Les Lions.
An exciting first match came down to the final play of the game with Poroto Cambiaso tapping the ball through the goal in traffic as time expired in what proved to be a defensive battle. The normally potent Next Generation offense was held to just eight shots, but they converted six on efficient 75% shooting. Holding the lead throughout most of the match, Monterosso faltered in the final two chukkas, held to zero field goals allowing Next Generation to complete the exciting comeback to capture the 10-9 victory.
Opening the game with a penalty 4 conversion, Ignacio Toccalino extended Monterosso’s lead to two including one-goal awarded on handicap. Restoring the one-goal deficit, Diego Cavanagh added a penalty 4 conversion of his own while assisting on Adolfo Cambiaso’s first goal to leave the score at 3-2 in favour of Monterosso. Uncharacteristic foul trouble for Next Generation led to a second penalty goal for Monterosso, while a field goal for Guillermo Terrera resulted in all four Monterosso players scoring one goal through two chukkas. Despite dominating possession to end the half, Monterosso converted just one of their five shot attempts to leave Next Generation trailing by one entering the second half.
Held without a shot attempt for the second consecutive chukka, Next Generation saw their deficit double to two after field goals from Jeronimo del Carril and Terrera. An organized defense from Monterosso contained the passing attack of Next Generation, preventing any open runs to goal with two chukkas standing in the way of their second victory of the tournament. Fighting from behind the entire game, Next Generation outscored Monterosso 2-0 in the fifth chukka to tie the game, led by a goal from Poroto Cambiaso. His father Adolfo Cambiaso socred in the opening moments of the sixth chukka but was quickly answered by a penalty 2 conversion from Toccalino. With time running out, the ball was hit in front of Monterosso and after a clearing attempt, next Generation jumped on the loose ball and fought through traffic until Poroto Cambiaso found an opening and sent the ball through the goal, securing the exciting 10-9 victory.
A foul ridden second game between Les Lions/Great Oaks and Scone was determined on the penalty line with a combined 19 penalty attempts between the two teams. Converting 8 of his 10 attempts, Nico Pieres led all players with 10 goals, returning to play after leaving the end of the last game due to injury. With both teams shooting 38% from the field, the extra shot attempts and penalty attempts in favour of Scone proved to be the difference in the 15-12 triumph.
A quick pace was set at the beginning of the game as Les Lions/Great Oaks relied on their elite duo of Bartolome and Camilo Castagnola to score three goals, matching two goals from Scone’s James Harper. A decisive moment in the match, Scone raced into a three-goal lead, holding Les Lions/Great Oaks scoreless, while Pieres scored three consecutive goals to give Scone the 6-3 advantage. The game moved to the penalty line with Bartolome Castagnola converting two opportunities to finish the half, but Les Lions/Great Oaks remained trailing by three with Pieres and Harper continuing to produce for Scone.
Trying to chip away at the deficit, Bartolome Castagnola led Les Lions/Great Oaks with two more penalty conversions, bringing his goal total to six by the end of the fourth chukka, pulling Les Lions/Great Oaks within two. The umpire’s whistle continued to push the outcome to the penalty line with Pieres scoring a penalty goal for the fourth consecutive chukka, maintaining Scone’s two goal lead. The story of the game was seen in the final chukka with Les Lions/Great Oaks fighting to make a comeback, but five fouls resulted in four penalty conversions for Pieres, completing the 15-12 victory for Scone.
All matches remain behind closed doors but every game is being filmed and can be viewed LIVE via a pay per view service at guardspoloclub.com/guards-tv.
Photo credit : Images of Polo
| Rank | Player | Goals Scored |
| 1 | Facundo Pieres | 23 |
| 2 | Nico Pieres | 21 |
| 3 | Bartolome Castagnola | 20 |
| 4 | Tommy Beresford | 18 |
| 5 | Joaquin Pittaluga | 15 |
| 6 | Poroto Cambiaso | 13 |
| T-7 | Diego Cavanagh | 12 |
| T-7 | Hilario Ulloa | 12 |
| T-7 | Ignacio Toccalino | 12 |
| 10 | Camilo Castagnola | 11 |