The Polo Report
By Steve Crowder
It looks to be a big Sunday as only two teams are 2 and 0 and that’s Scott Woods and ERG in one bracket and John Muse and Lucchese remain undefeated for the summer in the other bracket.
It was a great day for Polo as the weather was sunny, but not hot by any means. It was possible to see all 4 games in the day as it was as follows:
10 a.m ERG vs Zacara
It started out very even and very tough, nose-to-nose polo with both teams getting a fair share of shots and a few penalties along the way. It stayed close through the first 1/2. Zacara was up by 2 at one point, but could not hang on to it as penalties harmed them the most . The Polo Kid movie’s star …Santi Torres played very well and pulled the team through the tough times, but in the end it was 8 penalty conversions that won the game. Penalties are also what tied the game to send it to overtime. After that it is 50 to 50 and the 2nd throw in it was Santi getting a big run to goal and closing the deal for ERG now 2 and 0 and Zacara at 1 – 1
12:00 noon Valiente vs Piocho Ranch
It was Piocho early as the Gracidas, Julio, Memo and Carlos, seemed to have their way. However, Colorado Bob and Valiente never stopped coming and theydid their thing and came out on top to add a win to their column. Now are 1 and 1 and in the hunt. Tom Barrack’s Piocho Team faces a big task as they need ERG to win and they must win their game by at least 2 to head to the semis. They face Zacara, who also faces the same fate… they need to win.
2 p.m. Grants Farm vs Audi
They may have run into a buzz saw as I did not see game, but it was very important as these were losers of thefirst round. Grant’s Farm, defending champs of the PCO, obviously need a win as well as Audi 2008 champs. The hunger was there after Andy Busch was injured on Sunday. They said we got to get the job done and they did winning by 1 or 2 and also mabe AB happy as they still have a big chance for a return to the semis where they started their big run last year.
4 p.m. Lucchese vs Mansour
This turned out to be a pretty good game as Luccchese did not seem as sharp as they have been and Mansour also with a returning injured Patron Ben Solemoni came out fired-up. They reached a 3 goal lead at one time, but always knowing on the other side was the #1 player in the world and he is always a problem when he is moving. Cambiaso started moving fast in the 3 rd chukker and got rolling in the 4th as the Lucchese team went up by 3 . The 4 flags of Mansour were not done yet though. They came back and made it exciting and only fell by 1.
Here is the matchup on Sunday and the records :
Bracket 1 Bracket 2
ERG 2 – 0 vs Valiente Lucchese 2 – 0 vs Audi
Zacara 1 – 1 vs Piocho Ranch Mansour 1 – 1 vs Grants Farm
Valiente 1 – 1 vs ERG Grants F 1 – 1 vs Mansour
Piocho 0 – 2 vs Zacara Audi 0 – 2 vs Lucchese
San Diego is also back in high-gear after a little break and the Party Place has double the fun as the Del Mar Race track iss also in high gear right next door . So save your weekends for a day at POLO.
see ya