Argentine 8-goaler Guillermo Terrera scored four times in leading Valiente to an 11-10 win over RH Polo Saturday afternoon in the 2016 Cartier Queens Cup competition in England. (Photo by Alex Pacheco)
HB Polo (Ludovic Pailloncy, Ignacio Toccalino, Pelon Stirling and Sebastien Pailloncy) entered the second round of play in the 2016 Cartier Queens Cup with an 0-1 record, but took the wind out of the sails of the 1-0 Apes Hill contingent (Alex White, Mark Tomlinson, Eduardo Novillo Astrada and George Hanbury) with an action-packed 10-9 win at Coworth Park in a noon contest.
The two teams traded goals in the opening chukker with Ludovic Pailloncy stealing the ball from mark Tomlinson and racing down the field for a goal while teammate Pelon Stirling took advantage of a missed clear in front of the Apes Hill goal for a goal. Apes Hill responding with goals from Eduardo Novillo Astrada and Mark Tomlinson for a 2-2 tie.
The fast-paced start continued to escalate in second period action with Alec White giving Apes Hill a 3-2, scoring on a long pass from Astrada. Stirling immediately tied the game at 3-3 with his second goal of the day.
An Apes Hill foul in the third sent Stirling to the penalty line where he converted from 30-yards out for a 4-3 HB Polo advantage, but the lead was short-lived. George Hanbury found himself on the scoring end of a well-placed pass from Astrada, tying the game at 4-4 to end the first half.
Stirling opened the second half with a 30-yard penalty conversion followed by a goal from the field from White, 5-5. Ignacio Toccalino gave HB Polo the lead, 6-5, with the final goal of the chukker.
A penalty goal from Stirling opened the fifth period and extended the HB Polo lead to two goals, 7-5. Goals from Hanbury and Astrada tied the game at 7-7 with one chukker remaining in regulation time.
Stirling took the lead back for HB Polo on a 60-yard penalty shot, 8-7. White battled his way through two defending players to score the tying goal for Apes Hill, 8-8. Toccalino took the ball from the ensuing throw-in and raced down the field to give HB Polo the go-ahead goal, 9-8. Astrada found Tomlinson with a pass that tied the game at 9-9 with time running out. An HP polo attack on the Apes Hill goal resulted in a foul in the mouth of the goal and a Penalty 1 was called, awarding HB Polo a goal and a throw-in in front of the Apes Hill goal. Apes Hill managed to clear the ball but there wasn’t enough time left for them to score, losing by a single goal, 10-9.
Stirling led all scorers with six goals. Toccalino added two goals; Ludovic Pailloncy was credited with a goal and the team received one goal on a Penalty 1. White led a balanced Apes Hill attack with three goals. Tomlinson, Astrada and Hanbury scored two goals apiece in the loss. Both teams rode off the field with 1-1 records.
Valiente 11, RH Polo 10
Apes Hill and HB Polo were fortunate enough to have escaped the rain but Valiente (Ralph Richardson, Facha Valent, Guillermo Terrera and Alejo Taranco) and RH Polo (Ben Soleimani, Ali Paterson, Nico Pieres and Rodrigo Andrade) weren’t as lucky.
Nico Pieres opened the scoring for RH Polo in the afternoon match, after spotting Valiente one goal by handicap, 1-1. Ralph Richardson (filling in for Rob Jornayvaz) scored his first goal of the day for a 2-1 Valiente lead. A goal from Alejo Taranco made it 3-1, with Pieres scoring the final goal of the first chukker to trail Valiente, 3-2.
Valiente dominated the second chukker, combining shutout defense with three goals from Terrera. After two periods of play, Valiente had raced out to a commanding 6-2 lead.
RH Polo rallied in the third. Single goals from Rodrigo Andrade and Pieres went unanswered as RH Polo closed to within two goals of the lead, 6-4.
Fourth chukker goals from Taranco and Martin Valent lifted Valiente to a four goal lead, 8-4. Pieres closed out the chukker with his fourth goal of the game, but RH Polo continued to trail, 8-5.
Valent scored the first goal of the fifth chukker, followed by a goal from teammate Taranco, 10-5. RH Polo countered with single goals from Pieres and Ali Patterson, keeping the Valiente lead at three goals, 10-7.
Terrera’s fourth goal on the day had Valiente up by four in the final chukker of play, 11-7, but RH Polo was not rolling over. Andrade scored first followed by a pair of goals from Pieres. RH Polo was within a goal of the lead, but the clock was against them as the final horn sounded giving the 111-10 win to Valiente.
Terrera scored a team-high four goals for Valiente. Taranco added three goals; Valent scored twice and Richardson was credited with a goal for the win. Pieres scored seven goals for RH Polo. Andrade added two goals and Patterson scored once.
Queens Cup play continues on Sunday with a noon game at the Zacara Polo Farm between Zacara (Jack Hyde, Lyndon Lea, Lucas Monteverde and Pablo MacDonough) and Sifani (Hilali Noordeen, Juan Gris Zavaleta, J.P. Clarkin and Luke Tomlinson) followed by a 3pm battle at the Guards Polo Club between defending champion, King Power Foxes (Top Srivaddhanaprabha, Pepito Araya, Gonzalito Pieres and Facundo Pieres) and Talandracas (Eduard Carmignac, Tommy Beresford, Polito Pieres and Sapo Caset).