Tommy Biddle and Chris Hyde battle for the Bryan Morrison Cup.
(Photo by Tony Ramirez)
After all, the game of arena polo was created in the United States, and the US is the home of every 10-goal arena polo players in history (a total of four of them over the years), but it had been the English that had recently embraced the sport, extending their rather short summer season with a number of arena polo clubs that allowed play to continue throughout the fall and winter.
England ended the American dominance in the sport when they won the John R. Townsend International Cup in 2013, 11-10, for the first time in its 90 year history.
Determined to regain their position at the top of the arena rankings, the United States sent a 19-goal team to the All England Polo Club at Hickstead where the Tommy Biddle-led US team (Tommy Biddle, Patrick Uretz and William Tankard) scored a decisive 21-17 win over their English rivals (Chris Hyde, Peter Webbe and Jack Hyde) in a game that wasn’t as close as the score might indicate.
“We were incredibly well mounted,” admitted Biddle, always a concern when you aren’t playing your own ponies, “and it was a great playing surface,” the game’s only 10-goaler admitted.
With both horses and playing surface exceeding expectations, the United States trio went on a tear in the opening chukker for a 7-3 lead. Four of the team’s seven points came on two-point conversions from Biddle, adding to two more first chukker goals from America’s best. Patrick Uretz scored the only other first period goal for the US team. England got all three of their goals from 9-goaler Chris Hyde.
Things got no easier for England in second chukker play with Biddle adding four more goals to his already impressive numbers. Uretz and William Tankard each added a goal as the US lead grew to seven goals, 13-6. Chris Hyde scored twice for England with Peter Webb adding a goal. At the end of the first half the United States was in total control of the match.
Biddle added four more points to the US column in the third chukker, converting another tw0-pointer. Uretz scored a goal and England found themselves down by nine goals with one chukker remaining.
“The teamwork was the key for us,” said Biddle. Patrick (Uretz) is a very talented player,” he offered, “and Tankard worked really hard throughout the game.”
Two more fourth chukker goals from Biddle had the US leading by nine goals, 21-12 with just two minutes left in the game when the US team appeared to put on the breaks. England scored the final four goals of the game in the 21-16 loss as the United States was comfortable with a well-coordinated high-goal international debut for both Uretz and Tankard.
“I think that this kind of experience is the best thing for young players like this (Uretz and Tankard)”, said Biddle. “This is how you grow top flight players. This is the kind of competition that should be featured to promote the sport.”
Biddle credited the style of play as the big difference between the two teams. “We played a wide-open style of play,” he admitted. “We hit to the open spot and beat them to it. I don’t think they were expecting us to play that way,” he said. “They were more into ball control and controlling the play of the ball, we just opened the game up and played it the way it was meant to be played,” he smiled.
Biddle and company became the first United States team to win the Bryan Morrison Cup, and hope that it’s a harbinger of what’s to come when the two countries meet again in International Townsend Cup competition in 2015.