As record crowds gathered at Lawns Polo Ground for the annual Midhurst Town Cup on Sunday 30th June, King Power faced Dubai Polo Team for the coveted Midhurst Town Cup. Picnic hampers lined the sidelines and the Cowdray Estate served up a cornucopia of countryside inspired entertainment, as the scene was set for the ultimate family day at the polo.
Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha (1) rode out at 1 for King Power, with British 4-goaler Harper at 2, Pablo Mac Donough (9) at 3, and Nico Pieres at Back. Young 10-goaler Camilo Castagnola wore the number 1 shirt for Dubai Polo Team, with Rashid Albwardy (2) at 2, Antonio Heguy (5) at 3, and Beltran Laulhe (5) at Back.
Great play was seen by both teams however the unstoppable Dubai side showed their class to take the victory 13-9 over King Power. An opening goal by Castagnola straight out of the lineup showed the crowds why he’s got that 10-goal handicap, with strong defence from the rest of his Dubai side to take them into the second 1-0 up. King Power fought back in the second to establish themselves on the leaderboard with two goals by Mac Donough, however, Castagnola continued to show his skill scoring a hattrick of goals and a brilliant goal by Heguy giving Dubai a three-goal lead. King Power started to close the gap in the third with a goal by Harper and Mac Donough, but Castagnola wasn’t letting them get too close with a brilliant goal out the air taking Dubai into half-time 8 to 6.
Following a half-time break both teams came back strong with two goals apiece in the fourth. However, the fifth chukka saw Castagnola continue to dominate, with a hattrick of goals, but a costly couple of fouls for Dubai saw Mac Donogh successfully convert two 30-yard penalties for King Power, taking them into the last chukka on 8 goals and Dubai on 11. With all to play for in the last, Dubai continued their pursuit for victory with Heguy scoring two goals, despite King Power’s efforts and another successful penalty conversion by Mac Donough, it wasn’t quite enough leaving Dubai victorious 13-9.
Rashid Albwardy stepped forward to collect the Midhurst Town Cup from Richard Watts, the Chairman of the Midhurst Town Council, who also presented the winners and runner-up prizes, kindly provided by Aspinal. Beltran Laulhe was awarded the MVP prize due to his tremendous efforts in the game for Dubai, accepting a bottle of Gusbourne 51 degrees North. The Cowdray Best Playing Pony Rug was awarded to the beautiful grey ‘Alpargata’, played by Nico Pieres and owned by King Power.
