The appearance of the Thai Polo team (Harald Link, Nic Roldan, Alejandro Novillo Astrada and Malcolm Borwick) in the 2013 Veuve Clicquot British Open at Cowdray Park Polo Club marked Nic Roldan’s introduction to the 2013 British high-goal season as they faced the Enigma team of Jerome Wirth, Charlie Hanbury, Guillermo Willington and Sapo Caset.
Despite roster changes that had Tommy Beresford playing in place of Jerome Wirth and Brad Mallett filling in for Charlie Hanbury in the sixth, Enigma charged out to an early 3-1 lead. Thai Polo, playing its first 22-goal game of the season with a new lineup, struggled to stay in the game, trailing by two goals.
Thai Polo got their bearings as the game progressed. Consecutive goals had it all even at 3-3 in second chukker play. The sudden Thai Polo offensive push got Enigma’s attention, and four straight goals had them in front, 7-3.
Two more goals from Enigma had Thai Polo trailing by six goals, 9-3. Thai Polo managed a single goal before the end of the first half, but fell behind by five goals, 9-4.
Fourth chukker action saw Enigma score the first two goals to extend their lead to seven goals, 11-4. An impotent Thai Polo offense was unable to score and found themselves on the losing end of an 11-4 score as the period ended.
Another Enigma ran their lead up to nine goals, 13-4, with two more goals in the fifth. Thai Polo was held scoreless for the second consecutive chukker as their anemic offense sputtered into the final chukker of the game.
Although Thai Polo finally managed to score in the sixth, two more goals from Enigma sent them packing in a 15-5 beat down in the opening round of play in the British Open Tuesday afternoon at Cowdray Park.
LA BAMBA DE ARECA 11, EMLOR 10
Earlier in the day, La Bamba de Areco (Jean Francois Decaux, Polito Pieres, Gonzalito Pieres and Ollie Cudmore) scored early and ran up a 3-2 first chukker lead with the combination of 10-goaler Gonzalito Pieres and cousin Polito Pieres (8) clicking. Emlor (Spencer McCarthy, Joaquin Pittaluga, Nacho Gonzalez and Luke Tomlinson) responded with a pair of goals to keep it close as the first chukker ended (Diego Cavanagh replaced an injured Luke Tomlinson in the lineup).
The Pieres boys were in fine form in second chukker play. La Bamba de Areca shutout Emlor while scoring four unanswered goals to race out to a commanding 7-2 advantage.
Emlor tightened its defense in the third, keeping La Bamba de Areca off of the scoreboard for the first time all day. Emlor couldn’t do much better, scoring a single goal to trail at the end of the first half, 7-3.
A momentum swing in the fourth chukker has Emlor exploding for four goals. La Bamba de Areca is having trouble finding its offensive punch and managed just a single goal. La Bamba de Areca continues to lead, but Emlor cut the lead to a single goal, 8-7.
Emlor tied it up with the opening goal of the fifth chukker, 8-8, but that wasn’t the biggest excitement. Spencer McCarthy was thrown to the ground in a collision forcing a delay in the game. He returned to his feet and the game played on. (He would be replaced by Freddie Horne for the final chukker of the game). The two teams exchanged goals in the second half of the chukker and it was all even at 9-9 with one chukker left in regulation time.
Emlor continued to press the attack into the final chukker, but it was La Bamba de Areca’s turn now. Outscoring Emlor 2-1 in the final chukker of play, La Bamba de Areca registered an 11-10 victory in the team’s Veuve Clicquot British Open.
Tournament play will continue on Wednesday, June 26th with three games beginning with a noon contest between Cortium Jaeger-LeCoultre and UAE. El Remanso will face the Black Bears at 3PM followed by a showdown featuring Les Lions and HB Polo at 5PM.