Dubai 10-goaler, Adolfo Cambiaso

If Zacara (Facundo Pieres, Lyndon Lea, Rodrigo Andrade and Matt Perry) thought it was going to be easy sailing Thursday afternoon in semifinal action of the Veuve Clicquot Gold Cup for the British Open against Talandracas (Edouard Carmignac, Juan Martin Nero, Lucas James and Juan Jauretche) at Cowdray Park, they were sadly mistaken.  The magical combination of Rodrigo Andrade and Facundo Pieres that had been met with little resistance throughout much of the Gold Cup play was met with stiff resistance by Juan Martin Nero and Lucas James in the opening chukker of semifinal play.  Matching them goal for goal, the first chukker ended in a 3-3 tie.

Both defenses stiffened in the second period with Zacara managing a single goal.  Talandracas was held scoreless.  Two chukkers into play had Zacara sneaking in front of Talandracas, 4-3.

The defensive work of Zacara continued to hold in the third while their offense went to work.  Three unanswered goals had Talandracas losing traction, and falling behind by four goals, 7-3, at the end of the first half.

Zacara managed to tack two more goals on their total.  Talandracas tallied its first goal since the opening chukker.  After four chukkers of play, Zacara extended its lead to five goals, 9-4.

The teamplay and horsepower of the Zacara team continues to take its toll on Talandracas.  Zacara scored four more goals in the fourth.   At the end of the chukker Zacara has stretched its lead over Talandracas to seven goals, 11-6.

Talandracas makes a late run, picking up two goals in the sixth.  Zacara outscores them once again with three goals for the 14-8 final and a berth in Sunday’s finals.

DUBAI 17, EL REMANSO 7

El Remanso (Ali Paterson, George Hanbury, Pelon Stirling and Guillermo Terrera) scored the first goal of the game, but Dubai (Rashid Albwardy, Nico Pieres, Adolfo Cambiaso, and Alec White) was on their game.  Outscoring El Remanso for the balance of the chukker, Dubai left the field after the first seven minutes of play with a 3-2 lead.

Both offenses got their rhythm in the second chukker.  Dubai added five goals while El Remanso scored three times.  After two chukkers Dubai held a three goal, 8-5 lead over El Remanso.

Defense was the byword of the third period.  Dubai managed a single goal while El Remanso was held scoreless.  At the end of the first half of play Dubai had extended its lead to four goals, 9-5.

Four more fourth chukker goals saw Dubai take further control of the game with Adolfo Cambiaso and Nico Pieres clicking on offense. El Remanso scored once, but fell behind by seven goals, 13-6 to end the period.

Three more goals for Dubai in the fifth pretty much slammed the door on a struggling El Remanso offense that came up with a single goal in the period.  El Remanso trailed Dubai by nine goals, 16-7, with one period left to play.

Dubai scored only a single goal in the final chukker, but it was more than enough.  Dubai shut down the El Remanso for the second time in the game and rode away with the one-sided 17-7 victory.  The win boosts Dubai into the finals of the 2013 Veuve Clicquot British Open for the gold Cup, and will pit Adolfo Cambiaso against Facundo Pieres for not only the British Open Championship but for the top ranking position in polo.