Ten goalers Facundo Pieres (black jersey) and Pablo MacDonough battle for control of the ball.
(Photo by Pablo Ramirez)
A makeshift UAE Polo team (Max Hutchinson, Matias Benoit, Pablo MacDonough and Ollie Cudmore) nearly upset the defending champion, Zacara (Facundo Pieres, Lyndon Lea, Gonzalo Deltour and Matt Perry) Sunday afternoon at Cowdray Park before a late rally saved the day for Lyndon Lea’s gang in an exciting 8-7 win.
From the opening throw-in, UAE Polo looked for all the world to be the favorite, with 10-goaler Pablo MacDonough converting a 40-yard penalty shot for the only goal in a defensively-oriented opening chukker for a 1-0 lead.
Two more second chukker goals from UAE Polo had Zacara trailing 3-0. Matt Perry streaked down the field in the waning minutes of the chukker, offering teammate Facundo Pieres a perfect target which they connected on. Perry scored the final goal of the chukker as Zacara finally got on the scoreboard, although trailing, 3-1.
Defenses continued to dominate play as third chukker action was limited to a penalty conversion from Pieres and a goal from the field from MacDonough. At the end of the first half, UAE Polo was in front, 4-2.
More of the same in the second half, with UAE Polo on the attack from the throw-in. A long shot at goal from MacDonough went wide. Pieres raced down the field only to miss what looked like a sure goal just feet from scoring. UAE Polo scored first for a 5-2 advantage. Pieres converted a 30-yard penalty shot, 5-3. Ollie Cudmore scored on a pass from Matias Benoit to end the fourth chukker with UAE Polo in the lead, 6-3.
Zacara dug in for the fifth period. Pieres converted a 30-yard penalty shot to cut into the UAE Polo lead, 6-4. Perry scored his second goal of the match to bring Zacara to within a goal, 7-6 with Gonzalo Del Tour dropping a pass to Pieres who blistered the ball downfield to a waiting Perry for the score. Zacara had a shot to tie it up on a 60-yard penalty shot that Pieres drove wide, still 6-5. Pieres atoned for the missed penalty shot as he picked up the ball deep in the Zacara end of the field and raced over 260 yards for the tying goal, 6-6.
Zacara took their first lead of the game in the sixth chukker on a 30-yard penalty conversion from Pieres, 7-6. MacDonough leveled the score again at 7-7. Pieres scored again on a 2020-yard plus run for the final goal of the game in an 8-7 Zacara win. The win boosts Zacara’s record to 2-0 and marks their 22nd consecutive high-goal win in England over the last two years. UAE Polo drops to 1-1.
KING POWER14, EL REMANSO 10
It was a big day for the Pieres brothers as Facundo’s older brother, 10-goaler Gonzalito Pieres, led King Power (“Top” Srivaddhanaprabha, Pablo Llorente, Gonzalito Pieres and Marcos di Paola) to a 14-10 win over El Remanso (Hugo Lewis, Charlie Hanbury, Pelon Stirling and Guillermo Terrera).
A horrendous first chukker collision had Tomas Garbarini replacing Pablo Llorente for King Power as El Remanso took the opening 4-2 lead.
Gonzalito Pieres and Pelon Stirling traded penalty goals to open the second chukker, with El Remanso maintaining the 5-3 lead, but that was when King Power went on a tear. Four straight goals, (one penalty goal by Pieres) ended the chukker with King Power in the lead and in control of a 7-5 game.
Stirling opened the third with a goal, 7-6, but King Power wasn’t to be denied. Consecutive goals from Marcos di Paola (penalty goal) and team captain “Top” Srivaddhanaprabha had King Power up by three goals at the end of the first half, 9-6.
King Power continued to roll in the fourth, outscoring an out maneuvered El Remanso lineup 3-1, and taking a five goal, 12-7 lead into the fifth.
El Remanso outscored King Power 2-1 in the fifth, with Stirling accounting for a goal from the field and a 40-yard penalty conversion. King Power continued to lead, 13-9, with one chukker left to play.
El Remanso continued to press their attack, but the King Power defense was up to the challenge. The two teams exchanged single goals in the final chukker with King Power scoring a 14-10 win.
Play continues on Monday, June 30th with Dubai (Rashid Albwardy, Alastair Paterson, Adolfo Cambiaso and Diego Cavanagh) taking on Halcyon Gallery (George Hanbury, Mark Tomlinson, James Beim and James Harper) at 2PM followed by a 4PM match between the Black Bears (Guy Schwarzenbach, Facundo Sola, John Paul Clarkin and Patrick O’Dwyer) and Enigma (Jerome Wirth, Chris Mackenzie, Sapo Caset and Guillermo Willington).