Ellerstina 9-goaler Nico Pieres
We’re only into round one of Argentina’s Hurlingham Open and we already have altered lineups. An appendectomy sidelined Alegria 8-goaler Polito Pieres, throwing a wrench into an impressive Alegria lineup that wound up losing their opening Hurlingham Open match to La Aguada, 20-15. Polito’s replacement, 7-goaler Diego Cavanagh, performed admirably, scoring a team high six goals in the loss.
Just a day later it was Polito’s cousin, Ellerstina 9-goaler Nico Pieres who was forced to leave the game in the sixth chukker following a partial muscle tear to a riding muscle. 8-goaler Paco de Narvaez was brought in to replace Nico for the balance of the 17-12 Ellerstina win, but it must raise some concerns on the Ellerstina sidelines.
For all intents and purposes, the season appears to be over for Polito Pieres while Nico Pieres Tweeted that it wasn’t a big tear and he hoped to be back as soon as possible, putting in doubt his return to the Ellerstina lineup for the balance of the Hurlingham Open.
The two top teams in Argentina remain Ellerstina and La Dolfina, but an altered Ellerstina lineup might open the doors for other competitors. Granted, Ellerstina beat Magual (Alejandro Muzzio, Ignacio Toccalino, Marcos Di Paola and Jaime Huidobro) on Tuesday afternoon by five goals (17-12), they trailed in the third, fourth and fifth chukkers, hardly the expectations of a 39-goal powerhouse.
Fred Mannix’s Alegria foursome showed promise on paper, but with a new team and a last minute addition to the roster there will be a number of questions regardless of his impressive debut.
Horses are the game, and whether de Narvaez or Cavanagh have the stables to sustain drives through the final two opens of the season is a matter of concern. Certainly it would be thought that the Ellerstina organization would be able to supplement de Narvaez, but are there enough horses in the Alegria network to keep Cavanagh competitive through the next two months?