Sunday 13th September set the scene for the Park House Cup Final, with Mono Polo taking on Lumina on Ambersham 1.
Riding out at 1 in the red shirts for Mono Polo was Derek Maclennan (0), with Hamish Maclennan (1) at 2, Nicolas Leal (2) at 3, and Cody Jones (1) at Back. For Lumina, Kristina White (-1) was at 1, Beanie Bradley (1) at 2, Boyd Allen (1) at 3, and 3-goaler Niall Donnelly at Back.
The first chukka opened with a brilliant finish from Hamish Maclennan in the opening two minutes, swiftly followed by a neck shot from Donnelly to bring the scores level at 1-1. White then finished the chukka with a perfectly executed 30-yard penalty, putting Lumina into the second chukka with a 2-1 lead.
The second chukka saw high-scoring action from both sides, with White kicking off the scoring with another perfectly converted 30-yard penalty, followed by a breakaway goal from Donnelly. Leal then converted a Penalty 3 before Mono Polo executed another excellent team goal, finished by Hamish. Lumina fought back once more, with Donnelly scoring under pressure, but a last-second strike from Derek kept Mono Polo within touching distance at half time, with Lumina leading 5-4.
There was less action in the third chukka, with Derek starting the scoring for Mono Polo in the opening minutes to bring the scores level once again. However, Donnelly secured a breakaway run to goal before the final bell, putting Lumina into the last chukka with a narrow 6-5 advantage.
The final chukka saw both sides give it their all, but the unstoppable Donnelly struck again in the opening minutes despite intense pressure from Leal. This was quickly answered by a determined Jones, who scored an out the line-out goal to make it 7-6.
With just one goal separating the teams, Mono Polo were relentless in their pursuit of an equaliser. However, time was not on their side, with the final bell sealing a thrilling 7-6 victory for Lumina.
The Park House Cup was presented to Kristina White by Andrew Ward, while the X-Zony Best Playing Pony Award was presented to Apache, played and owned by Niall Donnelly.
