Polito Pieres with the ball for Talandracas.
(Photo by Pablo Ramirez)
El Remanso (Hugo Lewis, Charlie Hanbury, Pelon Stirling and Guillermo Terrera) Took control of the game early on, scoring, seemingly, at will as they rang up four first chukker goals. The Black Bears (Guy Schwarzenbach, Facundo Sola, John Paul Clarkin and Patrick O’Dwyer) kept it close at the onset, trailing, 2-1, but consecutive goals from a hopped-up El Remanso offense ended the chukker on top of a 4-1 lead.
In a reversal of fortune, the Black Bears were all over El Remanso in the second chukker. Scoring almost at will, the Black Bears scored five consecutive goals while holding a stunned El Remanso scoreless. After two chukkers it was Black Bears 6, El Remanso 4.
A quick third chukker goal from the field by El Remanso sparked a mini rally. A second straight goal (penalty conversion) had it all even at 6-6. The Black Bears scored the final goal of the period, however, and left the field at the end of the first half with a narrow 7-6 advantage.
El Remanso tied it at 7-7 at the start of the fourth chukker with a penalty conversion. Black Bears took the lead back following an El Remanso foul in the goal mouth, allowing Facundo Sola the opportunity to dribble the ball through the goal posts, 8-7. Charlie Hanbury was on the receiving end of a well-placed pass from Pelon Stirling to score and end the fourth chukker all even at 8-8.
The Black Bears stormed onto the field in the fifth, scoring twice from the field and adding a penalty goal to end the chukker. El Remanso was held scoreless for the second time on the day and fell behind 11-8 with one chukker remaining in regulation play.
Charley Hanbury cut the lead to two goals, 11-9, but that would be the last offense that El Remanso would capitalize on. A 60-yard penalty conversion from Sola ended the game with an energized Black Bears team riding off with the 12-9 victory.
KING POWER 13, ENIGMA 9
King Power (“Top” Srivaddhanaprabha, Pablo Llorente, Gonzalito Pieres and Marcos di Paola) showed up to play, and wasted little time by scoring the first two goals of the game for an early 2-0 lead over Enigma (
). Sapo Caset converted a penalty shot for Enigma followed by a goal from the field by King Power team captain, “Top” Srivaddhanaprabha, 3-1. The two teams traded goals to end the first chukker with King Power in the lead, 4-2.
Enigma scored the first goal of the second chukker, 4-3. Goals from Gonzalito Pieres and Pablo Llorente kept King Power in front, 6-3 as the period ended.
Third chukker action had both teams pressing their attacks. Enigma struggled to slow down the momentum King Power had developed in the previous chukkers but could do little more than match them goal for goal. At the end of the first half Enigma continued to trail King Power by three goals, 8-5.
Missed scoring opportunities by both sides in the fourth limited the offensive action with Pablo Llorente scoring from the field for King Power while Enigma was forced to settle for a lone penalty goal from Guillermo Willington. After four chukkers of play, King Power had a three goal advantage, 9-6.
King Power team captain “Top” Srivaddhanaprabha was having the game of his life as he opened the fifth chukker with yet another goal from the field, 10-6. Ensuing goals from Llorente and Di Paola had King Power in the lead by six goals, 12-6. A great individual effort by Enigma team captain Jerome Wirth got his team on the scoreboard before the chukker ended, but they were down by five goals, 12-7, with one chukker remaining.
King Power scored their thirteenth goal of the game in the opening minutes of the sixth and final chukker to lead Enigma by six goals once again, 13-7. Enigma was firing desperation shots at the King Power goal in an effort to cut into the significant lead, but their efforts went unrewarded. Willington finally connected on a long shot through the goal posts and added another goal on a 30-yard penalty shot, but today King Power was too much for them as they fell by the final score of 13-9. King Power team captain, “Top” Srivaddhanaprabha was credited with six goals for the win.
Friday’s games in the 2014 Veuve Clicquot British Open will feature Thai Polo (Harald Link, Nic Roldan, Juan Ambroggio and Tomas Garcia del Rio) and Halcyon Gallery (George Hanbury, Mark Tomlinson, James Beim and James Harper) at 1PM followed by a 3PM contest between Dubai (Rashid Albwardy, Alastair Paterson, Adolfo Cambiaso and Diego Cavanagh) and EFG Bank Aravali (Jaime Garcia Huidobro, Alejandro Muzzio, Joaquin Pittaluga and Charlie Pidgley).