Flowers Farms won the 21st annual Irish Cup at Eldorado Polo Club on April 7th and 8th.
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| Flowers Farms from left to right: David Flowers, Jay Thorton, Eric Wright and Robertito Zedda. |
It was their second straight year winning the tournament. The team consisted of David Flowers (player 1) -1, Jay Thorton (player 2) -1, Eric Wright (player 3) 2 goals and Roberto Zedda (player 4) 3 goals; for a team total of 3 goals. The semi-final match was won in sudden death overtime by Emerald Bay/ Flowers Farms who beat Orepac 9-goals to 8. Orepac was a very strong team and consisted of Ernie Ezcurra and Christian Moon. Orepac lead the match going into the 4th chukkar 8 goals to 6. In the 4th chukkar Flowers Farms’s Roberto Zedda fired back scoring two goals putting the score dead even at 8-8. Orepac’s Ernie Ezcurra brought the ball in for team Orepac in the first few seconds of overtime in sudden death, and David Flowers of Flowers Farms checked up on Ernie, taking a huge chance, leaving his man, and luckily Ernie missed the ball, which allowed Flowers to turn on the line, drawing the foul from Ernie; setting up a penalty shot for Emerald Bay/ Flowers Farms. Roberto Zedda then made the winning goal putting Flowers Farms into the finals on Sunday. Flowers had two goals along with three goals from Eric Wright and four goals from Roberto Zedda.
Sunday the team of Emerald Bay/ Flowers Farms played against Panero Farms in a match up of a 3 goal team EB/ FF vs. a 5 goal team P. Farms. Jay Thorton stated, “The key to winning this game was letting the pros play the pros and for David and I to neutralize the other two players; Jan Panero and Henry Randazzo”. Panero Farms consisted of Jan Panero -1 goal, Caroline Anier 2 goal , Fergous Gould, 4 goal and Henry Randazzo, 0 goal; totaling 5 goals. Flowers Farms was given only a 1 goal handicap because it was a 4 chukkar tourney. The game was intense and it took Flowers and Thorton two chukkars before they were able to let their adrenaline slow down and play their game. We (Flowers Farms) played tough and we played as a team. I had to forget about the ball and trying to score. Polo is a total sport of ego, but if you are going to win, you must let your ego go, and focus on your position and responsibilities. I do not believe anyone thought we could beat either of the teams we faced, but I knew if we played our best and each did our job, we would be unbeatable. Flowers Farms won the tournament 6-3 and took the 21st annual Irish Cup. The past few days were filled with excitement, adrenaline, dedication, teamwork and a lot of answered prayers. Jay and I played together all season and won several of the low goal tournaments, but this one was the big one and it counted. Jay is a great guy, a great teammate to have on and off the field and very competitive. We are headed to San Diego for the spring and summer season and hope to continue our success.