Les Lions/Great Oaks Moves to Top of League One in Cartier Queen’s Cup
The two remaining undefeated teams in League One in the 2020 Cartier Queen’s Cup provided the only match on day 7 with Les Lions/Great Oaks defeating MT Vikings 9-7 on the Zacara grounds.
Trailing throughout nearly the entire match, Les Lions/Great Oaks finished with a flurry of goals, scoring four goals in the sixth chukka to complete an impressive comeback. Struggling with inaccurate shooting from the field, MT Vikings relied on the penalty shooting of Juan Martin Zubia, who converted four of his five attempts to maintain their narrow lead, but the overwhelming possession from Les Lions/Great Oaks in the final stages of the match proved to be the difference in the two-goal victory.
Early pressure applied by MT Vikings gave them the early advantage when James Beim converted a penalty 2 to open the scoring, adding to their one-goal on handicap to hold a 2-0 lead. The balanced offense of MT Vikings saw one goal each from Beim, Sebastian Merlos and Juan Martin Zubia as they overwhelmed Les Lions/Great Oaks to finish the opening chukka leading 4-2. Relying on the duo of Camilo and Bartolome Castagnola, Les Lions/Great Oaks received two field goals on perfect 2 for 2 shooting, but their deficit remained at two after conceding a penalty goal to Zubia. A defensive end to the first half resulted in a scoreless third chukka leaving MT Vikings ahead 6-4 entering the second half.
Field goals proved to be hard to come by, as the only goal in the fouth chukka came from a penalty conversion from Zubia, extending MT Vikings’ lead to three. Bartolome Castagnola ended the drought, scoring two goals in quick succession to pull Les Lions/Great Oaks within one. A determined MT Vikings team continued to hold off the potent Les Lions/Great Oaks offense receiving one goal from Zubia, but the final stages of the game saw the Les Lions/Great Oaks team break through. Scoring five of the final six goals in the match, two from Bartolome Castagnola along with a significant impact from Dillon Bacon, who’s two late goals in the match helped secure the comeback and the exciting 11-9 victory for Les Lions/Great Oaks.
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 – Images of Polo