Neither the heavy rains in the preceding days nor the arrival of Khloe and Kourtney Kardashian (of the reality TV show Keeping up with the Kardashians), at the International Polo Club in Wellington were enough to disrupt the 2010 USPA Piaget Gold Cup action as Bendabout/Wanderers (1-2) scored a 13-9 win over previously undefeated Orchard Hill (2-1) while Lechuza Caracas (3-0) handed Crab Orchard (2-1) its first loss of the Piaget Gold Cup tournament in an 11-7 tune-up for Thursday’s semifinals.
Photo by Gregory Ratner - http://ratnersportsphotography.com
Bendabout/Wanderers received two goals by handicap from the 26-goal Orchard Hill team to start the game but by the end of the first chukker, the score was all even at 3-3. A single goal from Gillian Johnston accounted for the Bendabout scoring while Orchard Hill got a pair of goals from Hector Galindo and a single goal from Pablo MacDonough.
The match was close for the next three chukkers with Bendabout taking a narrow 6-5 lead into the fifth chukker, and that was when the wheels started coming off of the wagon for Orchard Hill. Single goals from Johnston and Sugar Erskine were complimented by four penalty conversions from Jeff Hall to give Bendabout a 12-6 lead. Orchard Hill’s sole goal came on a penalty shot from Pablo MacDonough.
Orchard Hill struggled to get back into the game in the final period of play, with MacDonough converting a penalty shot and scoring once from the field, but Bendabout’s Mike Azzaro converted his third penalty shot of the day for a 13-8 advantage. Galindo scored the final goal of the game for Orchard Hill, but it was Bendabout who celebrated the 13-9 win.
“The Orchard Hill goals in the first half were the result of individual efforts,” observed Argentine 10-goaler Sebastian Merlos from the sidelines. “There was no teamwork from them.”
Orchard Hill had scored two previous wins over Pony Express (11-10) and Piaget (11-10), but couldn’t get it together for Bendabout.
Hall scored five goals on the day and was named MVP while Johnston’s Tinsel received Best Playing Pony honors.
LECHUZA CARACAS 11, CRAB ORCHARD 7
With both teams already qualified for Thursday’s semifinals of the 2010 USPA Piaget Gold Cup, the contest between Crab Orchard and Lechuza Caracas was little more than a practice game, but don’t tell that to Lechuza team captain Victor Vargas as he scored a game high six goals in leading his team to an 11-7 win over Adolfo Cambiaso and Crab Orchard (2-1) and a perfect 3-0 record in Gold Cup play..
Lechuza led 6-2 at the end of the first half, holding Crab Orchard to single goals from Julio Arellano in the first and a Cambiaso goal in the third.
“We really weren’t too concerned about the score.” Offered Crab orchard 8-goaler Julio Arellano, “it was all about the horses. We had a couple days of rain and we didn’t want them to tie up so we just concentrated on the horses.”
Arellano said that they (Crab Orchard) was pleased with the performance of their mounts, and said that their sole purpose in the match was to protect them for the semifinals on Thursday.
Lechuza held on to its four goal lead throughout the second half with Vargas scoring four second half goals to seal the 11-7 win.
With Crab Orchard and Lechuza already assured of berths in the semis, two of three Monday matches will be the deciding factors as to who the other two teams will be. Coming into the weekend Orchard Hill, Las Monjitas and the Hawks held perfect 2-0 records. Orchard Hill’s loss drops them to 2-1. If Las Monjitas (2-0) defeats Piaget (0-2), and the Hawks (2-0) manage to beat Pony Express (0-2), Orchard Hill is out of it.
Game times on Monday are Las Monjitas vs. Piaget at 1 pm followed by a Hawks showdown with Pony Express at 3 pm. Finally, Audi (0-2) will meet Valiente (0-2) at 4:30 pm.