By Alex Webbe
The pace was fast, with runs up and down the field as Faraway battled Bendabout to an 11-10 win in Wednesday’s Haas Cup semifinals at the International Polo Club in Wellington. While a balanced Bendabout attack had Faraway trailing throughout much of the game, Faraway managed to put up two unanswered last chukker goals for the victory.
Chris Nevins and Lucas Criado scored first chukker goals fro Bendabout, but Faraway 9-goaler Julio Arellano added a pair of goals for Faraway with the first period ending in a 2-2 tie.
Goals from Gillian Johnston and Inaki Laprida in the second went unanswered as Bendabout rode out to a 4-2 lead after just two chukkers of play.
Criado added another goal for Bendabout in the third, but a pair of penalty conversions from Julio Gracida had Faraway up 5-4 as the first half ended.
Johnston added two more goals to the Bendabout pot while Faraway came back with goals from Pablo Spinacci (for the injured Sugar Erskine) and Julio Gracida. Bendabout continued to lead, 7-6.
The high-scoring fifth chukker produced six goals, with each side collecting its half. Bendabout got goals from Johnston, Laprida and Nevins with Faraway coming back with three goals from Arellano. Bendabout took the 10-9 lead into the final chukker of play.
A Faraway rally in the sixth garnered it a pair of goals from Arellano, while Bendabout missed a number of scoring opportunities as the final horn sounded in the 11-10 win in Wednesday morning’s Haas Cup semifinal.
“I think I played it too easy in the first half,” said American 9-goaler Julio Arellano. “I missed a penalty shot and another shot from the field. When I took the field in the second half, I put everything I had into it, played the way I always do and we had success.”
“I thought the team went well today,” said Julio Gracida. “They’re a tough team, and we had to play hard to beat them.”
Faraway will go on to meet ERG in Sunday afternoon’s Haas Cup final.
ERG 10, MT. BRILLIANT 6
Goals from ERG’s Paco De Narvaez and Mt. Brilliant’s Nic Roldan had it all even at 1-1 after the first chukker, but the game wouldn’t stay close for very long.
Second chukker goals from ERG’s Santi Torres and Jason Crowder had Mt. Brilliant trailing, 3-2, as they picked up a single goal on a penalty shot by team captain Bo Goodman.
Mt. Brilliant’s Mike Azzaro scored the only goal of the third period, and the first half ended in a 3-3 deadlock.
ERG took a 5-4 lead in the fourth chukker, getting goals from Charlie Micheo (substituting for the absent Scott Wood) and De Narvaez. Mt. Brilliant responded with a single goal from Ulysses Escapite, and fell behind ERG 5-4.
ERG got single goals from Torres, De Narvaez and Crowder as a silent Mt. Brilliant offense was shut out and found themselves down by four goals, 8-4.
Goals from Micheo and De Narvaez were countered by goals from Azzaro and Escapite, but time ran out on Mt. Brilliant in the 10-6 ERG win, and a berth in Sunday’s Haas Cup finals.
“The team just didn’t control the ball the way we normally do,” said former 9-goaler and Faraway coach Julian Hipwood.
ERG will meet Faraway in the Haas Cup finals on Sunday afternoon.