Titleholders Zacara triumph In British Open leagues
By Herbert Spencer
Lyndon Lea’s Zacara, 2011 winners of the Veuve Clicquot Gold Cup, won their first encounter of the 2012 British Open Championship Friday when they beat James Packer’s Ellerston 11-8 at Cowdray Park.
The game was played on Packer’s home ground at Manor Farm on the Cowdray Park estate and Ellerston was led by 10-goaler Gonzalito Pieres, but Zacara deftly negated these advantages, holding the lead in all six chukkas.
Ellerston scored first, but Zacara equalised and went ahead 2-1 in the opening period. Goals by Zacara patron Lea and Ellerston’s Pieres left Zacara 3-2 up in the second chukka. Zacara increased their lead to 5-3 at halftime with two goals by Ignatius Du Plessis. Ellerston patron Packer scored his team’s only point.
Zacara held their opponents scoreless in the fourth period to go ahead 8-3. Ellerston rallied in the fifth chukka with two goals each by Pieres and John Paul Clarkin, but Zacara held onto a 9-7 lead. Scoring was equal in the final period, leaving Zacara the winners by three goals.
In the day’s other league matches, the Abwardys’ Dubai downed Will Johnston’s Coca-Cola 9-7 and the Hanburys’ El Remanso swamped Edouard Carmignac’s Talandracas 14-6
Sumaya will play La Bamba de Areco in Saturday’s single British Open league match.