UAE Polo Team 12 – 8 Marques de Riscal Manor Farm
King Power 12 – 10 Monterosso Noel Farm
A crucial day for three 2-1 teams looking to secure their place in the Cartier Queen’s Cup quarter-finals. Play began with UAE Polo Team facing Marques de Riscal at Manor Farm. The opening chukka proved to be a display of skill from Bartolome Castagnola Jnr as he scored all three goals for UAE thanks to perfect shooting from the field and a Penalty 2 conversion. Holding an early 3-1 lead, UAE Polo Team looked to have the momentum in their favour, but Marques de Riscal produced a strong end to the first half against the defending champions, scoring four of the final five goals. In search of their first victory, Guillermo (Sapo) Caset led the charge with three goals during this stretch, while UAE Polo Team were limited to just one shot in the third chukka, trailing 5-4 at half-time. A foul-ridden fourth chukka resulted in the two teams exchanging penalty conversions, including a Penalty 3 for Louis Aznar, substituting for Alejandro Aznar for Marques de Riscal. Still behind by one, UAE Polo Team stepped up the pressure, forcing Marques de Riscal into two more fouls that ultimately led to penalty goals from the sticks of Castagnola and Tomas Beresford. The latter was the catalyst in the fifth chukka, Beresford adding a goal and an assist from the field to push UAE Polo Team ahead by three. With a UAE victory in doubt at half-time, Sheikha Maitha’s team finished this game with an 8-1 run to deliver a 12-8 win and a place in this weekend’s quarter-finals.
The second match of the day featured 2-1 King Power against 2-1 Monterosso, with the game holding heavy implications for advancing in the tournament. Fighting for the victory, a back-and-forth game ensued, coming down to the final chukka to determine the winner. Monterosso received a boost with 9-goaler David (Pelon) Stirling returning to the line-up, along with Diego Cavanagh replacing Ignacio Toccalino. The rain poured, making for difficult conditions, but Stirling wasted little time in scoring his first goal after Matias Gonzalez stole the ball and set up Stirling on a run to goal. Stepping into the King Power line-up for a second time, Pablo MacDonough highlighted a strong response from King Power; they would score five consecutive goals over the first and second chukkas to take a commanding lead. However, in a game full of alternating momentum, Cavanagh brought Monterosso back in contention from the penalty line where he converted three opportunities and helped his team pull even at 6-all at half-time. Monterosso struck first in the second half with consecutive goals from Alessandro Bazzoni and Cavanagh to hold a narrow lead. However, a resilient King Power battled back in the fifth, completed by a long pass from MacDonough that was carried through the goal by Top Srivaddhanaprabha. Deadlocked at 9-all and a spot in the quarter-finals on the line, Mackenzie Weisz stole the ball in front of goal to score his fifth goal of the day to put King Power ahead by one. Quickly followed by a Penalty 2 conversion from MacDonough, King Power claimed a hard-fought 12-10 victory to improve to 3-1 and join UAE Polo Team at the top of League Two.
Wednesday’s Fixtures
12:00 pm – Scone Polo vs Vikings (ground TBC)
3:00 pm – Great Oaks LL vs Park Place on The Princes’ Ground
All games are being livestreamed by Guards TV in association with Polocam TV. Go to https://guards.polocam.tv/package
