RH 10 vs 6 Sommelier
It was a convincing win for the Queen’s Cup winners RH Polo over Sommelier on Saturday 8th July. In the lead from the off, Sommelier could only watch as the RH side dominated the possession. A few fouls in the 2nd chukka from Sommelier gave RH too many opportunities at goal, all of which they converted, leaving Sommelier trailing 6-2 going into the 3rd. They were unable to make up this difference, the RH attack too strong and no goals for the Sommelier side in the 3rd, 4th and 5th chukkas left them with too steep a mountain to climb and the match ended 10-6 in RH’s favour.
Match Progression:
2-1 6-2 7-2 9-2 10-4 10-6
Monterosso 9 vs 8 Murus Sanctus
Another exciting 7 chukka match saw Monterosso take their second win of the tournament over Murus Sanctus. The lead swapped between teams throughout the game, Monterosso starting strong, allowing Murus Sanctus to score just twice in the first half of the match, only to be caught napping in the second half when Murus Sanctus came back fighting. Regular time ended with 8 goals apiece, Santiago scoring a penalty 3 to tie the game up. An early foul in overtime gave Murus Sanctus the perfect opportunity to send themselves through to the quarter finals, but it seemed the pressure was too much, the ball went wide and the Toccalino brothers pounced, sending the ball flying into their end where Ignacio scored for the win.
Match Progression:
2-1 2-2 4-2 5-5 5-7 8-8 9-8
La Indiana 10 vs 6 La Bamba de Areco
A switch around in the La Indiana line up (with Pite Merlos in for injured brother Agustin Merlos) meant a change in team dynamic, a tactic which certainly proved effective against the La Bamba side. With Pite as a strong defensive presence, it was up to Luke Tomlinson and Nic Roldan to take the limelight which they did admirably with 4 goals each, plus a further 2 from Michael Bickford. Despite missing shots at goal La Indiana dominated throughout and La Bamba were unable to get a look in (not scoring in the first half). They performed better in the second half of the match however but were unable to make a dent in the La Indiana lead.
Match Progression:
2-0 4-0 4-0 6-2 8-3 10-6
El Remanso 11vs 9 Habtoor
A great comeback in the second half from Habtoor was not enough to tip the scales in their favour after losing sight of their opposition in the 4th chukka. Habtoor remained in the game throughout, pushing El Remanso to switch from their more natural attacking strategy to a defensive one, but they could not overcome the four man team play that had El Remanso score with 3 goals for Cudmore, Hanbury and Beim and 2 for Harper. A valiant effort from Nico Pieres in the last chukka saw 3 goals to Habtoor, but it was still not enough to catch the all Brit side as they stormed to their 2nd win of the tournament.
Match Progression:
1-1 3-3 6-4 8-4 11-6 11-9
