Triumphant RH Polo team (L to R)-Ben Soleimani, Tommy Beresford, Rodrigo Andrade and Adolfo Cambiaso ran their record to 3-1 with Tuesday afternoon’s 12-11 overtime win over Talandracas in British Open competition at the Cowdray Park Polo Club.
Golden goals by Rodrigo Andrade and Fred Mannix carried RH Polo (Ben Soleimani, Tommy Beresford, Adolfo Cambiaso and Rodrigo Andrade) and Sommelier (George Hanbury, Juan Gris Zavaleta, Fred Mannix and Alec White) to wins over Talandracas (Edouard Carmignac, Guillermo Caset, Pelon Stirling and Hugo Lewis) and Monterosso (Alessandro Bazzoni, Ignacio Toccalino, Santiago Toccalino and Matt Perry), respectively, Tuesday afternoon in British Open play at the Cowdray Park Polo Club.
Brazilian 8-goaler Rodrigo Andrade scored the winning goal for RH Polo in overtime.
Tommy Beresford continued to impress, scoring the first goal of the day for RH Polo. Teammate Adolfo Cambiaso increased the lead to 2-0, with a 60-yard penalty conversion. Hugo Lewis made his presence known with the first goal of the game for Talandracas, trailing RH Polo, 2-1, to end the opening period, 2-1.
Both defenses tightened up in the second chukker. Brazilian 8-goaler, Rodrigo Andrade, scored the only goal of the period on a shot from the field. RH Polo continued to lead, 3-1.
Talandracas rallied in the third, with Lewis scoring his second goal of the match and cutting the RH Polo lead down to a single goal, 3-2. RH Polo patron scored for a 4-2 advantage, but a pair of penalty goals from Sapo Caset ended the first half in a 4-4 tie.
Beresford gave the lead back to RH Polo with the opening goal of the second half, 5-4. Lewis countered with a Talandracas goal, 5-5. Cambiaso drove the ball through the Talandracas goalposts for a 6-5 RH Polo edge. Cambiaso was forced to leave the field with an injury and Julian de Lusarreta replaced him as the game continued. Caset leveled the score at 6-6 with a 40-yard penalty shot and 10-goaler Pelon Stirling scored on consecutive goals that ended the period with Talandracas on top of an 8-6 score.
Andrade and Caset exchanged goals to open the scoring in the fifth as Talandracas maintained their two-goal lead, 9-7. Andrade’s second goal of the chukker was followed by a goal from the field from de Lusarreta. After five chukkers of play, the score was all even at 9-9.
Ten-goaler Hilario Ulloa replaced de Lusarreta in the sixth but it was Caset who scored the first two goals of the chukker for a two-goal Talandracas advantage, 11-9. With the RH Polo team on the attack, Beresford score the last two goals of the period to tie the game at 11-11 and force sudden-death overtime.
After a brief recess to allow the teams to gather fresh mounts, RH Polo and Talandracas returned to the field.
An aggressive Andrade proved to be the answer for RH Polo in the overtime chukker, scoring the winning goal, 12-11.
Beresford and Andrade scored four goals apiece for RH Polo. Cambiaso scored twice with Soleimani and de Lusarreta each adding a goal for the win. Caset’s six goals led the field. Lewis scored three times and Stirling added two goals in the loss.
Sommelier 10, Monterosso 9
In the second Gold Cup match of the day, Santiago Toccalino scored four times in the first chukker for a commanding 4-1 lead. Alec White accounted for Sommelier’s only goal of the period.
A scoreless second chukker was third period goals from George Hanbury, Fred Mannix and White while a resolute Sommelier defense held Monterosso scoreless. After the first three chukkers of play, the score was tied at 4-4.
The Sommelier attack continued into the fourth chukker as White and Mannix each added a goal. A frustrated Monterosso offense was denied for the second straight chukker, and fell behind by two goals, 6-4.
Monterosso turned the tables on Sommelier in the fifth period. Ignacio Toccalino scored twice and Matt Perry scored his first goal of the game. With one period remaining in regulation play, the lead belonged to Monterosso, 7-6.
Goals from Ignacio Toccalino and Perry extended the Monterosso lead to three goals, 9-6, when the Sommelier attack stirred. Two goals from Juan Gris Zavaleta and a goal from White tied the game at 9-9 at the end of regulation play, forcing the second sudden-death overtime period of the day.
Canadian 8-goaler Fred Mannix scored the golden goal in the overtime chukker for the 10-9 Sommelier win.
White scored a team-high four goals for Sommelier. Mannix added two goals; Zavaleta scored twice and Hanbury was credited with a goal for the win. Santiago Toccalino led the Monterosso attack with four goals. Ignacio Toccalino added three goals and Perry scored twice in a losing effort.
British Open play continues at Cowdray Park Polo Club on Wednesday, July 12th with King Power (Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha, Jimbo Fewster, Gonzalito Pieres and Facundo Pieres) facing El Remanso (Charlie Hanbury, Oliver Cudmore, James Beim and James Harper) at noon followed by a 3PM contest between La Bamba de Areco (Jean Francois Decaux, Diego Cavanagh, Magoo Laprida and Rodrigo Rueda, Jr.) and Habtoor (Mohammed Al Habtoor, Nicolas Pieres, Francisco Elizalde and Paco O’Dwyer).