By Alex Webbe
Behind the sound hitting of 10-goaler Pablo MacDonough, Orchard Hill charged out to an impressive 7-2 lead after two chukkers, but couldn’t hold on for the win.
Adolfo Cambiaso, “the great one”, scored all of his eight goals in the second half as Crab Orchard overcame a six goal deficit to defeat Orchard Hill 13-12 in overtime in competition for the Les Armour Cup at the International Polo Club in Wellington.
Nachi du Plessis scored the first goal of the game on a penalty shot with Pablo MacDonough, Orchard Hill’s 10-goaler, responding with a goal from the field. Du Plessis scored Crab Orchard’s second goal before MacDonough scored back to back goals giving Orchard Hill a 3-2 lead.
Orchard Hill continued to press the Crab Orchard attack, scoring four goals in the second period while blanking a powerful Crab orchard Offense. After two chukkers of play, Orchard Hill led by five goals, 7-2.
Steve Van Andel scored the opening goal of the third chukker before Crab Orchard got on the scoreboard. Du Plessis was the man of the hour, scoring three consecutive penalty goals before Hector Galindo ended the first half with a goal to keep Orchard Hill ahead, 9-5.
Cambiaso’s game picked up in the third, scoring two goals while Orchard Hill was limited to a single goal from Lucas Criado. Crab Orchard was cutting into the Orchard Hill lead and now trailed by only three goals, 10-7.
Four more goals from Cambiaso in the fifth were countered by a single penalty conversion from MacDonough, and the chukker ended in an 11-11 tie.
Crab Orchard’s game continued to pick up, but defenses on both sides tightened. Cambiaso’s eighth goal of the match had Crab Orchard ahead, 12-11, but the lead was short-lived. Within a minute of the Cambiaso goal, MacDonough evened it up at 12-12, forcing a sudden-death overtime period to decide the game.
Orchard pressed the first serious attack in the overtime period, resulting in a 60-yard penalty shot attempt to win the game. The shot went wide and Crab Orchard was still alive.
Now it was Crab Orchard’s turn to go on the offensive. Early efforts resulted in a foul deep in the Orchard Hill territory. Cambiaso drilled the penalty shot for a goal and an exciting come-from-behind 13-12 win.
Held scoreless in the first half of play, Cambiaso scored seven times in the next three chukkers and buried a 40-yard penalty shot in overtime to lift Crab Orchard to its first win of the season.
Cambiaso led Crab Orchard with eight goals. Du Plessis added five goals in the win.
MacDonough scored eight times for Orchard Hill. Criado added two goals and Galindo and Van Andel scored single goals.