Cowdray Park Polo Club
Thai Polo (Harald Link, Nic Roldan, Alejandro Novillo Astrada and Malcolm Borwick) showed up with a determined defense that held the opposition to a mere 6 goals in the match (a far cry from the 15 goals they gave up in their opener against Enigma), but the empty gun they waved on offense did little to impress as they lost their second consecutive game, 6-3.
It should be stated that the Talandracas lineup (Edouard Carmignac, Juan Martin Nero, Lucas James and Juan Jauretche) didn’t exactly strike fear into the minds of future opponents with their lack of offensive punch.
Talandracas scored the first two goals of the game while shutting out the Thai Polo offense in opening chukker play. Talandracas was looking to deliver another knockout punch to a team that had previously been beaten by ten goals, but was happy with the early 2-0 lead.
The Thai Polo defense held Talandracas scoreless in the second chukker, but managed just a single goal, cutting the lead to 2-1.
The two teams exchanged goals in the third, but the low-scoring contest ended the first half with Talandracas on top of a 3-2 score. Lucas James was responsible for two of the Talandracas goals with Juan Martin Nero registering a single goal in first half play. Nic Roldan and Malcolm Borwick each scored a goal for Thai Polo.
There wasn’t much more offensive action in second half play, with Talandracas accounting for all of the offense in the fourth chukker for a 4-2 lead.
Thai Polo got on the scoreboard again in the fifth, with their third goal of the game, but Talandracas added two more goals to their total and led 6-3 with one chukker remaining in regulation play.
Thai Polo out-scored Talandracas 2-1 in the final chukker, but it wasn’t enough as they lost their second consecutive British Open game, 7-5. The Tai offense was absent once again, but their defense kept them in the game. As for the future of Talandracas, unless they can jump start their own offense, it is going to be tough sledding ahead.
SUMAYA 10, CORTIUM 7
After a 0-0 first chukker, Sumaya took advantage of an injury to Eduardo Novillo Astrada in the second chukker (he continued to play) to run off with a 10-7 victory in British Open competition Monday afternoon.
The win gives Sumaya a 2-0 record while Cortium falls to 0-2.
UAE 10, LUCCHESE 6
Lucchese (John Muse, Mark Tomlinson, Javier Novillo Astrada and Jaime Huidobro) and UAE (HH Sheikha Maitha Al Maktoum, Jack Richardson, Lucas Monteverde and Pablo MacDonough) battled to a 2-2 tie after first chukker action in the final British Open game of the day.
Two unanswered goals from UAE had Lucchese trailing after two chukkers. UAE left the field at the end of the second chukker with a 4-2 lead.
Two more UAE goals extended their lead to three to end the first half. Lucchese scored a single goal by trailed 6-3 after the third chukker.
UAE added two more goals in the fourth as Lucchese struggled to find a way to slow down the attack. A single Lucchese goal saw them fall behind by four goals at the end of the chukker, 8-4.
The UAE lead was stretched to five goals in the fifth. A single UAE goal went unanswered as the UAE lead stood at five goals, 9-4, with one chukker left in regulation time.
Two sixth chukker goals weren’t enough for Lucchese. UAE added just a single goal in the final chukker, but it was more than enough as they coasted to a 10-6 victory. UAE remained undefeated at 2-0 with the win. Lucchese is winless at 0-2.
British Open play continues on Wednesday, July 3 with Les Lions (1-0) meeting Twelve Oaks (2-0).