Pilara defeats La Dolfina
By Jorge Andrades
Pilara-Piaget outclassed La Dolfina 13-12 to obtain the B zone and gain a place in the final of the Tortugas Open, the first of the Triple Crown tournaments in Argentina. The unbeaten winners will clash next Saturday against Ellerstina.
Up to the final of the fifth chukker the match resulted boring, with many stoppages and fouls (both teams committed 30 in total). Pilara had the control of the actions and the score during most of the time, but in the end of the third period their dangerous forward Agustin Merlos was sent off after two successive technical fouls and then it seemed things would be more difficult for the winners. Far from that, Merlos` replacement, young Lucas James, had a perfect performance (basically in defense, helping his team mates in recovering the ball) and with his decisive task, blue shirt team reached victory deservedly.
Both squads increased their performances in the last two periods which resulted exciting and well played. It was then when the experienced Sebastian Merlos and Marcos Heguy became the leaders of Pilara to stop their rivals attacks in order to preserve the difference in the score. The back also scored two excellent goals, showing his skills with the ball.
La Dolfina was far from their good performances in the Argetine Open some years ago, leaving the tournament with two loses as a result of their poor performances. Just Adolfo Cambiaso did his best, but his lonely effort was not enough to overcome Pilara who beat them without putting up a superb task.
Santiago Chavanne outstood for Pilara. Exhausted after the game, former La Dolfina player agreed that it had not been a good match. “It was horrible. No one played well. Fortunately we gained but I didn`t like itâ€. Lucas James who was sitting by him laughed and added “Santiago doesn’t lie, but in my case, I enjoyed very much playing with these “monsters†-referring to his team mates and rivals-. What else can I expect?â€
Lucas Monteverde was the last La Dolfina player who left the field. With his mallets on his shoulder and very worried he said: “Our team could never do what we wanted because our horses were not in a good form. Without them it is very difficult to obtain good results. Next year we`ll have to define if we face the Tortugas Open preserving our mounts or if we`ll fight for the Championship. Playing the way we did, with these second line horses, surely there will not be triumphs…â€
Pilara-Piaget (13): Agustin Merlos 10 (sent off, replaced by Lucas James 7 in the third chukker), Santiago Chavanne 8, Sebastian Merlos 9, Marcos Heguy 10. Total,37
La Dolfina (12): Adolfo Cambiaso jr. 10, Lucas Monteverde jr. 10, Mariano Aguerre 10, Bartolome Castagnola 10. Total,40
Chukker scores: Pilara Piaget 2-1,4-3,5-7,8-7,9-8,12-11,13-12.
SCORERS: Pilara Pilara-Piaget (13): Agustin Merlos 3-2 pen, Santiago Chavanne 3, Sebastian Merlos 3, Marcos Heguy 4-1 pen.
La Dolfina: Adolfo Cambiaso jr. 7-4 pen., Bartolome Castagnola 5.