The second half of the Annual Jamaica Polo Association’s Annual Tournament started with the Hurlingham Cup Final, played at the St. Ann Polo Club on Saturday, July 1st, 2006 at 4:30 p.m. between defending champions St. Ann Polo Club and Kingston Polo Club. This lovely silver trophy was donated in 1938 by Lord Mountbatten when he brought a polo team and 24 horses to visit Jamaica from the prestigious Hurlingham Polo Club in England. It is played for on handicap by the most competitively handicapped team that each Club can put up, but no team can be more than 6 goals stronger than the other.
This year Kingston fielded a 10 goal team with teenage prodigy Jason Wates – 0 goals, James Robertson – 3 goals, Mark Wates – 4 goals and Paul Lalor – 3 goals and St. Ann put forward the 13 goal team of Lesley-Ann Fong-Yee – 2 goals, Kurt Chin – 4 goals, Paul Chin – 3 goals and Andy Vernon – 4 goals and had to give Kingston a 3 goal handicap advantage. The game started slightly late as a section of the field had not been properly cut. In the end it did slow play down at times but did not affect the overall quality of the match which turned out to be very competitive.
Mark Wates opened the scoring quickly for Kingston increasing their lead to 4 goals, which looked insurmountable. Kurt Chin pulled one back for St. Ann, but then Lalor also scored for Kingston keeping them well in the lead at the end of the 1st chukka. St. Ann closed the gap slightly in the 2nd chukka when Kurt Chin converted a 20 yard penalty and they finally managed to catch up in the 3rd when Fong-Yee scored twice and Vernon converted a 60 yard penalty. The 4th chukka was fast and competitive as Kingston came out hard and fast with Lalor scoring then Mark Wates to put them back in the lead. Then Fong-Yee converted a 20 yard penalty and Paul Chin scored to tie the game again. Mark Wates scored again for Kingston but Vernon converted another 60 yard penalty for St. Ann to keep the game tied up. Both teams played quite defensively in the 5th chukka but it was Mark Wates that scored to put Kingston in the lead again. The last chukka was a thriller as Vernon scored twice to put St. Ann in the lead for the first time but then Lalor converted a 40 yard penalty to tie the game again and Wates, inarguably man of the match, dominated the last half of the chukka scoring twice to give Kingston the win by 12 goals to 10.
The Tournament continues this Saturday, July 8th, 2006 at the St. Ann Polo Club, Drax Hall at 4:30 p.m. when the two Clubs, with Kingston as the defending champions, play for the prestigious Senior Cup. This valuable silver trophy, presented in 1907 after the formation of the All Jamaica Polo Association, is played for on an open basis (without handicap) by the best team that each Club can field and is usually the most fiercely contested match on the JPA calendar. The Clubs are not required to nominate the players within their teams until the last minute as long as they fall within the right handicap range.
Hope to see you there!
Photo of winning team Kingston Polo Club team attached – from left to right: Paul Lalor (4), Mark Wates (3), James Robertson (2) and Jason Wates (0).